Bring it On:  Losers Rule
by victoriarogue
Summary: A suburban cheerleader from the hood has moved to Los Angeles during the promotion of a punk rock benefit concert and has to help a group of outcasts win a cheerleading competition over their own school's cheerleading squad. Rating might change.
1. Nightmares

The sun was blazing as it shone bright and warm in the August morning. Different squads were practicing cheers and clapping before a loud whistle sounded. As the girls and boys ran around to get into their designated groups, four judges were sitting at a table, watching a cheerleading squad run onto the blue padded matts in the middle of the green fields of freshly-cut grass. The judges were probably the only ones happy about being able to sit underneath a tent's cool shade as the sun was passing through the clear, blue sky. The group of mostly black cheerleaders were hopping up and down and getting everyone's spirits up as best as they could. Each girl wore workout shorts and spandex sports bras or wife beaters. The squads were cheering for them to show their attention had been gained. As the girls got into position, they waited for the number to start. After ten seconds passed, the boys in the front pivoted around to do numerous backflips as one girl cheerleader cartwheeled then flipped above one of the cheerleaders. The group performed a fun routine as the crowd gave them encouraging plaudits. The number was over and one of the girls rose her arm up and began to shout.

"Ready?" the girl shouted. She was very pretty and had a curvy body like some of the other girls. Her other came up in a perfect arc as she shouted, "Okay! I said Good God."

"Suns' playin' it hard," the team chanted, adding a bit of crumping into the cheer. "We bouncin' off walls like the game is the jump off. Too bad, don't be mad. Clean up the weak act and you might not get had."

"Hold up, slow it down, a roll call is in order now," the leader shouted, getting into position with seven other girls.

"Reeses," one girl called, flipping her weave.

"Gabby Q," one girl called, blowing a kiss to the audience.

"Farah," another girl called, flipping her long hair out of her face and shaking her breast playfully.

"Eda K," another said, seductively twirling her fingers in hair and winking to some of the boys behind the judges.

"Cada," one more said, swirving her hips around before snapping her fingers.

"Sherry Cola," a curvy-bodied girl called, tracing the contours of her body with her hands.

"Nicki," the main character introduced, whipping her hair long, curly hair around as she swirved her hip around boldly.

"Jody," the second tallest girl called, slapping the side of her butt.

The leader got in the middle of the circle and said, "You already know, my name Unique."

The number ended and the crowd cheered for the girls as they bowed and hopped around. As the Suns' team went to cool off and release their nervous and/or excited tension, the leader, Unique, relaxed her neck and shoulder muscles before turning to Nicki. She was planning to talk to her until the scout master called her and exchanged a few words with her.

"Alright, ya'll, water break before one more practice," Unique called, speaking to the scout master. Feeling this chat was going to be a bit longer than anticipated, Unique turned again and said, "Ya'll know what, don't worry about practice. It's almost time to eat."

"You sure?" Cada asked.

"Yeah, ya'll go head. I got something to take care of," Unique said, waving the team off.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders as they went to their cabins to chill for a while. Unique watched as some of the team spoke to Nicki, one of her biggest enemies. The scout master brought her attention to something else for the time being, however, as the Suns walked off.

Several hours passed and the sun was setting. The Suns and other squads were done with practice until tomorrow's demonstration. Everyone was running to get some water before dinner in the mess hall. Horns sounded, signaling dinner, and all the squads lined up in front of the door as if it were boot camp and not cheer camp. The mess hall was just a big log cabin cafeteria except the security came from the military for some reason or another and the pedestal area was in the style of an old church pedestal. Once everyone was seated, the scout master stood on her pedestal to speak. She had a roller-curled hairstyle and glasses with sharp corners at the rim set onto her soft, wide nose. Despite her age, she was very funny and cheerful. She had more energy than most forty or fifty-something year olds.

"Good evening, ya'll," the scout master greeted.

"Good evening," everyone returned.

"Tomorrow is our last day at Cheer Camp for the summer, you guys. Everyone should have finished refining new routines and blowing the dust off some old ones for the morning demonstration. Your judges for tomorrow will determine which of you girls have the most potential for regionals, which of you have made the most progress, and which of you are the best inspirational leaders," the scout master informed, earning some cheers and clapping herself. "I hope you all get a good's night rest and bring it on like nobody's business. Tonight we're having pizza to commemorate our time together as a family and as a hard-working team. Hope you all will be well for tomorrow and don't shove no extra slices in your purses. We were kids, too; we know that trick."

Some people laughed at that comment while others stood up and left before the cafeteria staff got the food ready. It was going to be another hour or so before everything was set up, so Nicki of the Suns' squad stood up and left to her cabin. Two other girls from the squad got up to follow her, which gained Unique's attention again, but before she could say anything to them they were gone from the mess hall.

In the cabin, Nicki grabbed her purse, sat on her bed, and took out some nail polish and other products. She heard a knock on the door and looked up to see who it was. Her two best friends, Eda and Farah, were waving at her as they came to sit around her.

"Hey, ya'll, what chu doin' in here?" Nicki questioned, grabbing some wipes and a stone out of the purse.

"Nicki, you goin' to the pizza party tonight?" Eda asked. "I know they're the worst thing for a cheerleader tryin' to lose weight."

"They only bad for me 'cause I'm allergic to the sauce," Nicki said. "You alright, child. Go have fun with Trelli. You like him, right?"

"No, she like that other boy," Farah said, taking a wipe before sitting down and taking her shoes off. She wiped her feet with the moist, powder-scented cloth before saying, "Otherwise, she wouldn't be wearing her special green polish. She already showed off that funk-ass zebra print."

"You know what, I ain't worried 'bout you, Ms. I-can't-get-a-man-because-I'm-clumsy," Eda said, sitting beside Nicki and grabbing a wipe.

"Now, you need to stop 'cause you know you can't dance with yo' big offbeat self," Farah remarked.

"See, that's why I don't like you right there," Eda commented, pointing her manicured fingers at Farah then returning to wiping her feet of sweat.

"Then what you gettin' ya nails done fo'?" Farah argued, not understanding why she needed to have them repainted if she couldn't stand speaking to her.

"'Cause Nicki got a nail shop in her purse. Don't play like you wanted to get yours done just because," Eda retorted.

"Alright, ya'll, calm down. Let's just finish this before the camp cop come up in here with his curfew bell. Hand me that yellow, Farah," Nicki requested, taking some nail polish remover out of her purse.

"But, Nicki, real talk. Let's do somethin' else," Eda suggested.

"Like what? You hit on just about every dude with legs," Nicki said, dabbing the polish remover onto a cotton swab and rubbing the cracked polish off her toes. She had considerably pretty feet with exception to the bruise on her toe that came from wearing horribly made tennis shoes.

"Let's go swimmin'," Eda said, shrugging as though her suggestion was obvious.

"Oooo, let's go skinny dippin' like them people on TV," Farah said, getting excited and picking out red and gold polish.

"I ain't gettin' in no water with my ass stickin' out. You lost yo' damn mind," Nicki said, giving Farah a look.

"C'mon, it's just gonna be this once. We gon' do it before curfew out in the lake," Farah said.

"Just wear some pasties and come on. It's just gon be us. Who gon know?" Eda asked.

The girls looked at Nicki with anticipation and excitement in their eyes. If they were going to go out of Cheer Camp, they may as well go out with a boom. Skinny dipping in the lake should be okay since the lake had clean, blue water and was cool year round. Nicki looked into Eda's eyes then into Farah's and sighed resignedly.

The party was in the middle of getting a bit more rowdy, and Farah was beckoning Eda and Nicki to hurry to the lake while the camp cops were sipping some wine with the scout master and the judges. The girls were giggling as they ran around in robes, with exception to a reluctant Nicki, and scattered to the lake. Once they reached the moonlit water, Farah took off her robe - revealing a tall, slender, light-skinned naked body - and dove into the lake. She cheered before covering her mouth to stay quiet and swam backwards a bit. Eda took off her robe to reveal a shorter, chubbier body then dove in the water and made a louder splash than Farah.

"Whoo, this water cold!" Eda said, shivering a bit before relaxing.

"Alright, Nicki, jump!" Farah called, laughing a bit.

Nicki looked behind her to make sure no one was around then back at the girls waving to her. She was even more reluctant than before as she looked into the lake. It wasn't as refreshing and nice-looking as before when they went swimming during the day. This time the lake looked ominous.

"Ya'll check to make sure they ain't got no sharks in the water," Nicki said, waving her hand to the evil-looking lake.

"Sharks swim in the ocean, girl!" Eda remarked. "Hurry up and jump!"

"You want me to come up there and jump with you?" Farah asked, swimming towards the shore.

"Nah, that's alright," Nicki said to them. She took her robe off, shivering from the cool air caressing her lower back, then took some steps back to prepare to jump. She said, "I swear on high if I scrape my ass up on one of these rocks I'm a kill them."

"Nicki, Farah comin' up there if you don't come down," Eda called.

"Alright!" Nicki called, preparing for the run. "Here I come!"

Nicki ran to the edge of the cliff, but as she jumped, her foot got caught on a tree root that was hidden by Farah's bright yellow robe and made her flip around in the air instead. As Eda and Farah watched her spin about, Nicki let out a yelp then fell onto the rocky shore and bumped her head onto a thick, smooth stone that made her world turn black and red.

Voices were pouring through her ears as heat and cool air mixed and passed over her skin. Her head was spinning and beating as she felt a painful heat wave before her closed, lidded eyes. She flinched at the pain then heard more voices beat her skull mercilessly. As her eyes opened, she cringed at the flashlight waving in front of her face. She saw a man with a small afro holding a miniature flashlight in his gloved hand. He turned off his light and put something cold onto her chest as he examined her heartbeat. Nicki groaned as she placed her hand onto her forehead. A pack of ice was resting there.

"She's comin' to, sir," the afro man said.

Suddenly, he was knocked over and Nicki's father appeared before her. He inquired, "Baby, baby, you alright?"

As quickly as her father's image came, her mother shoved her father aside and shouted relentlessly, "Girl, what the hell were you thinkin' jumpin' off a cliff like you crazy? Suppose the raper-man would've came and snatched you up. You are outside your mind agreeing to do somethin' dumb like this with no draws on! You ain't got the decency to wear none?"

"My draws?" Nicki questioned, not remembering or understanding her situation. Abruptly, the memory of agreeing to Eda's and Farah's request to do something different to commemorate the end of summer camp came to her. They agreed to go skinny dipping in the lake, but she only remembered taking off her robe. After that, nothing. She shot up from her laying position and said, "Wait, where my draws at?"

"Nicki, you alright, girl?" Eda asked, sitting beside Nicki to see her head. "You bleedin' anywhere? Did you scrape yo' ass?"

"Eda, where my draws?" Nicki questioned, looking around for her robe, clothes, anything really.

"Girl, you smashed yo' head on that rock hard. You alright?" Farah asked.

"Where are my draws?" Nicki asked, getting impatient and worried.

Everyone looked down at Nicki, including the paramedic, and said nothing. Nicki shook her head, hoping she wasn't still naked. When she looked down at her own body, she was in fact still naked and perfectly exposed to everyone. She looked into everyone else's eyes and after losing her breath in shock just started screaming as she scrambled to cover herself.

* * *

><p>Oh, Nicki, you so fine<p>

You so fine you blow my mind

Hey Nicki hey hey

Hey Nicki

Oh, Nicki, you so fine

You so fine you blow my mind

Hey Nicki hey hey

Hey Nicki

* * *

><p>At the airport, a tall, youthful woman wearing a sundress and wedge heels with hair styled in a bob was texting someone with her Blackberry. She looked up every now and then to make sure she didn't miss anything. There were quite a few people at the airport this summer. Usually it was empty, but some families and businessmen were probably coming from all over to get ready for the working fall season. Kids have school in two weeks while businessfolk have their busiest work schedules around this time. Once she was done sending her message, she saw a tall, young girl running towards her through the crowd.<p>

"My baby!" the woman said, clutching her purse and putting her phone away.

She ran to the girl in excitement and embraced her tightly as they squealed in glee.

"Farah! Hey, my baby!" the woman said, rocking back and forth as she squeezed her daughter's slender body.

"Mommy!" Farah returned, bouncing up and down.

Two other girls came towards them and smiled at how cheerful mother and daugher were after not seeing each other for two whole months. Though Farah, the baby girl and daughter, was taller than her mother, they looked identical. They both had big, toothy smiles, light skin, straight black hair - Farah's being the longest since her mom cut it short, and sharp noses. Even their styles for fashion were similar. They both loved bright-colored dresses, which is what they were wearing, and sandals during the summer. The mother turned to the other girls and spoke to them with just as much excitement as she had for her daughter.

"Hey, ya'll how was camp?"

"We had to do gymnastics for two weeks," Farah said, chewing on a piece of gum still.

"How'd you do?"

"Good," Farah answered, hopping. "I can do the helicopter now."

"That's my baby. Ya'll got all ya'll stuff ready to go? I gotta drop Eda and Nicki off before we go home."

"The only thing we lost is a cheap thing of lipstick," Eda commented, making Farah's mother laugh.

Farah's mother led the girls to the Subaru van and helped them pack their bags in the trunk. Once the van pulled off, everyone was on their way home. There were some silent moments as the van took the interstate homeward, but once Nicki saw Young A. Wessex Senior High School she spoke up.

"Junior year comin' up, ya'll," Nicki started. "We gotta decide who gon be the next captain."

"It's gon be you anyway. What you trippin' over?" Farah asked.

"Don't say that! It might not happen," Nicki said, pushing Farah playfully.

"Well, if it ain't you, it's gon be itchy bitchy Beaux and her nasty attitude as co-captain," Eda said, gesturing a bit.

"Hey, now, watch that language," Farah's mother warned.

"Oops, sorry," Eda apologized, cringing.

"Unique's not that bad. She's just under a lot of pressure because of the last captain," Nicki said. "Ya'll know Jody can be mean to her sister?"

"Jody Unique sistah?" Farah questioned.

"We called you twice to tell you that and you still forgot?" Eda asked.

"Ya'll didn't call me to say that!" Farah shouted, offended by not knowing such a valid piece of information.

"Nicki called you to make sure you knew," Eda said, wondering how Farah didn't know. "Cheerleader captain runs in the Beaux family. They mama was captain in her high school, Jody became captain our freshmen year, so if Unique win that's a third captain of the family."

"That's gon be tough to beat, though. Unique gon have her sister's vote automatically, and if she impresses the graduating seniors she's got half the votes," Nicki inserted, beginning to worry.

"But you got all the lower classmen. You gon be alright. Stop worryin' so much!" Eda said, pushing Nicki playfully. "Daryl gon call you grandma if you get worry wrinkles on your face."

"Stop!" Nicki responded, giggled.

"We should get a coach who gon help us get to regionals, though. Captains ain't got no money like that to bring like twenty of us to Houston," Farah noted. "They gotta find a bus, pay the driver, get hotel rooms, worry about food - "

"I'd worry about food, too, if I knew you was gon be there. You snacks on anything that ain't poisonous," Eda remarked.

"Now, Eda, you can't call the kettle black, child. You eat too," Farah's mother remarked.

"What we need to worry about is how we gon get the money for all that," Nicki said through chuckling at Eda's horrified face. "A hotel suite can hold up to twelve people, so we need about two. That's like 2000 dollars."

"2000?" Farah questioned, catching a small heart attack.

"For a hotel in Houston?" Eda questioned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, girl, suites ain't cheap. We would have to have a fundraiser every two weeks to get rooms in Houston. Not counting a bus or bus driver and not countin' food," Nicki informed.

"Damn," Eda, Farah, and Farah's mother said.

* * *

><p>Nicki couldn't wait to get home and tell her parents all that she learned at Cheer Camp. Farah's mother pulled up to Nicki's house and helped get Nicki's stuff out of the trunk. She pulled her keys out of her purse, opened the door, and waved to goodbye to Farah and her mother. Nicki pulled her suitcases inside, closed the door, and looked in the house to see...nothing. Everything was gone! The pictures on the wall, the trophies on the shelves, the dishes, the couch, everything was gone!<p>

"Mama, daddy, I'm home. Ma? What happened to our stuff?"

"Nicki!"

"Courtney!" Nicki called, getting excited for the moment.

Courtney was Nicki's baby cousin. Courtney's mother was Nicki's aunt on her mother's side of the family. She gave birth to Nicki's dancing "apprentice," Courtney, who was taking dancing lessons at Nicki's old studio. Nicki scooped little Courtney in her arms, embraced her tightly, and swung her around to make the little girl laugh and smile. A man came down the stairs, hearing voices downstairs, and suddenly became nervous. The man was Nicki's father, and he a very "special" surprise for his eldest and only daughter.

"Jenny, Nicki back from camp."

"Alright, I'm comin' down."

"Hey, daddy," Nicki greeted, smiling.

"Hey, baby, how was camp?" the man asked, trying to find the right words to tell his daughter.

"Camp was fun! We learned routines from some other squads and helped change 'em up, and some squads from Florida, Georgia, Los Angeles, and Texas came to teach us the rules for regionals and nationals since they go every year. We were voted as the squad with the most potential to enter regionals and/or nationals."

"That's great, baby," the man complimented.

"I practiced my dance, Nicki," Courtney said, distracting Nicki for a moment.

"You did? Lemme see it," Nicki said, putting Courtney down to watch her dance.

"Shake your bodyline, shake it all the time," Courtney sang, shimmying as best as she could. "Shake, shake, shake, senora, shake it all the time. Ta-da!"

"Ah, you know the steps!" Nicki shouted, hugging Courtney. "That's my girl!"

"So, where's regionals gonna be?" Nicki's father decided to ask to find a way to break the news to Nicki.

"They moved regionals to Houston this year," Nicki answered.

"What about nationals?"

"Nationals are in California this year. Last year, they were in New Mexico."

"Mark, you told Nicki the news?" a woman asked, walking down the stairs with another woman trailing behind her.

"Hey, mommy! Hey, Tee Willow! What news?"

"You get to see nationals this year in California," Mark said.

_This is it..._ he thought. _There won't be an easier way to break this to her._

"We're going to Los Angeles tomorrow morning," Mark continued, smiling nervously.

"Oh my god! We're going to see nationals! Oh my god, I'm a call Trelli, Daryl, Eda and Farah and tell 'em we goin' to nationals this year," Nicki said, hopping around and about to run to her room until she remembered nothing was left in the house. She looked at her father curiously then said, "Well, wait, nationals aren't until spring. That's months from now. It's August. Why we leavin' so early?"

"I got a promotion at work, and I have to relocate to the base in Los Angeles by Friday, which is tomorrow, at two in the afternoon. We have to be at the airport by ten o'clock in the morning. The company's taking us to our new house."

"Baby," Nicki's mother said, "we are all moving toooooooo Llllooooooossssss Aaannnggeeleeeeeesss..."

Everyone watched Nicki completely malfunction and freeze as she processed the words. Now, she wasn't a slow thinker like most cheerleaders; she was just about two seconds away from fainting. Nicki's aunt took Courtney away from Nicki, waved her hand in front of Nicki's face, and watched Nicki hit the ground and pass out. No one moved until Courtney said...

"Did she just die, mama?"


	2. Goin to Cali

"You're moving to Los Angeles?" Eda and Farah questioned loudly over the phone.

Nicki was a wreck as she sat on her aunt's plush, leather sofa with her little cousin's teddy bears and a few blankets. She had tissues in her hand that were supposed to catch her tears, but she sniffled through most of them and the rest fell onto her thighs. Her hair normally gave her some comfort when her face was hidden, but she had to roll her hair for the night and keep her curls looking fresh for the rest of the week. Her mother paid 95 dollars for her hair to be styled as it was; she wasn't about to ruin a hundred-dollar style so her mother can wreak more havoc on her life. She was upset with the move as it was.

"You can't run for captain if you're gone to another state. The long-distance thing don't work," Farah said, realizing Nicki really lost her chance to run against Unique for captain now that she's moving. Spirit law states that a captain must be enrolled in a school that he or she has been enrolled in for at least two or more years and other running captain must follow this rule as well.

"I know, Farah, but everything is already packed," Nicki said through a weak voice. "I'm spending the night by my auntie house right now because it's closer to the airport. I can't just stay here with someone else with one pair of clean draws and some flip flops. Everything's on its way to Los Angeles, even my clothes. My mom already requested my transcripts from all of my schools to finish the process for my enrollment to another school."

"How long your daddy knew he got the promotion?" Eda asked.

"He didn't know until mid-June. Mama said his boss came in his office one day and spoke to him for a few hours about relocating cross country. I was already at camp practicing, and he was ordering moving vans and calling other relatives to help him move while he was at work. When daddy came home, he told mama he got a promotion and he had to move to Los Angeles," Nicki explained.

"Well, why you goin' if he the one that had to leave?" Farah asked.

"He's movin' to Los Angeles to stay there, Farah. He wasn't coming back," Nicki answered, sniffling.

"Oh, so your moms just said let's move the family?" Eda clarified.

"Without tellin' me, yeah," Nicki replied angrily. She looked at the wall clock hanging over the fireplace and said, "Well, look, ya'll I gotta go. I need to be awake to tell everyone bye in the morning. We gon be gone by 9:30."

"Wait, what airport ya'll gon be in?" Farah asked.

"The one by the Lakefront," Nicki responded, hooking her phone up to the charger. "We have to be on the plane by 10."

"We gon come see you one last time, okay? Don't worry," Eda tried, speaking in a soft voice. "We can stay in touch on Facebook at least, and you can tell us all about nationals."

"I don't want to go to nationals without the squad," Nicki whined.

"We gon go to nationals together then. You said we needed to raise the money about every two weeks," Farah said, optimistically.

Realizing that Farah, who was normally ditzy and couldn't come up with a decent plan on her own half the time, had a good point, Eda added, "Yeah, we can scrape up the money during the year while we practice routines that'll win regionals. Once that's over, we gon be in Los Angeles at nationals."

"Ya'll gotta try to convince Unique to do all that stuff, though," Nicki said, being realistic. "Unique is hard-headed; she don't listen to nobody except her sister."

"Who cool with you," Farah stated, smiling brightly. "We gon say you told us how to afford getting to regionals and we need to practice to get to nationals. Jody'll tell Unique what you said and Unique'll help the squad."

Nicki thought about Farah's idea and cheered up practically instantly. She was right. Jody and Nicki got along well enough for Jody to convince Unique to listen up, and she knew several ways to raise enough money each month to obtain rooms for a hotel in Houston for twenty people. It was going to take a lot of work and a lot of ideas and probably a lot of money to set up, but it would be worth it to get the team to regionals for the first time. Nicki smiled and got her confidence back once said, "You the truth, girl. You the bomb, Farah, baby. You got that."

"What kind of fundraiser can we do when school open, though?" Eda asked, not seeing many possibilites of obtaining close to 300 dollars a month. "We need 2000 by the end of February. That's only seven months."

Nicki thought of a few ways to get the money each month while maintaining a small budget from each member of the squad at a reasonable price. Finding one solution, she suggested, "Tell everyone in the squad to put up six dollars for a fundraiser. Sell some school supplies for about a dollar a bag. Make sure the bag has a one-inch binder, three notebooks, a pack of paper, pencils, and pens, some erasers, a mini stapler, and some highlighters. You might wanna put some index cards and pocket folders in the bag, too."

"Nicki, six dollars ain't gon cover the expenses for that," Eda said, being realistic. "You need at least twenty dollars for all of that. What about glue and scissors?"

"No, girl, listen. Walgreens and Walmart sell school supplies on sale from the start of August to the start of October. A pack of paper is probably 35 cents right now if you pick up some coupon books. Have every member of the squad put up six dollars and collect it. You'll have 90 dollars altogether. That should buy enough supplies to start off with. Make the coaches put up ten dollars, so you can have forty dollars to make extra bags or signs to advertise the sale. You can sell art supplies for like two dollars if you want. That way one student is like three dollars if they buy both bags. Give out some snacks for like fifty cents. Some people be hungry once lunchtime start but don't wan' eat the cafeteria food. If you keep that up, by the end of August you should have about 200 dollars. If fifty people get one bag and two snacks, they spent two dollars. Fifty times two is a hundred, so you got a hundred dollars. Even if it's just ten kids a day, you got twenty dollars a day. If you keep sellin' for two weeks and you get ten kids a day, you still get 200 dollars by the first week of September. Kids gon need new supplies sooner or later, so just keep sellin' the bags. Don't change the price for any reason. More people come to you when the shit cheap, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Farah grunted, turned up her upper lip, and then said, "I know that's right."

"I like that," Eda said. "We gon do that idea first and ask the coach what she think."

Nicki giggled a bit, breathed deeply, and felt her stress lift from her. She at least gave her team a stepping stone to make it to regionals, but if she wanted to see them she would have to make sure they made it to nationals and that she herself could get there. That meant she might have to buy tickets, which might not be possible since she wasn't a family member or invited friend, or join another squad and compete. Not wanting to do that, she sighed then said, "I'm a miss ya'll."

"We gon miss you, too, girl," Farah cooed.

"Alright, well, I gotta go. I need to finish rolling up my hair."

"Ugh! I can't believe you leavin' me," Eda said, pouting.

"Promise to call us every night," Farah said.

"I will, Farah."

"Oh, Nicki, what about the squad? We the only ones who know you leavin'," Eda said, just realizing this fact could make the squad cry. "Daryl don't know either."

"Oh shit! I don't have time to call everyone now. I'm gon have to call 'em when I'm in Cali and let 'em know then."

"Let us tell 'em," Farah said. "That way you ain't gon cry."

"I'm gon cry right now, girl. I don't wan' say it now," Eda said, waving her hand to fan her tears away.

"Can you do that for me, ya'll?" Nicki requested.

"Yeah, I'm a tell 'em. You go on to sleep for your flight and don't cry no more alright?" Farah said, tilting her head a bit.

"Alright," Nicki whispered. The girls hung up and went about their own business.

* * *

><p><strong>All passengers report to Flight 62 for Los Angeles, California at Gate 26B. All passengers, please report to Flight 62 for Los Angeles at Gate 26B.<strong>

"Fly like a butterfly," Eda chanted.

"Sting like a bee," Farah added.

"Let's hear it for the girl," some of the Suns' squad members chimed sadly. "Supa tricky fly girl, Nicki Brini."

Nicki waved goodbye from the plane's window as the vehicle started to move. She took out a piece of gum and put some in her mouth to ease the pain that was going to come soon once the plane reached its angled take-off. Once she started chewing, she heard a "psst!" sound and looked up to see a guy smiling at her. He had dried clumps of mucous in his nose and acne that looked like a rash covered his face. He was white and had really oily hair that made his acne glow from the sunlight. His teeth were okay, but they were yellow and he smelled of cigarette smoke. Nicki decided it was best to ignore the boy and proceeded to put headphones on her ears to listen to reggae music. Luckily, there were magazines in front of her, so she opened one and proceeded to read. The boy wouldn't give up, though; he liked Nicki's lips as they showed her working the gum through her teeth. He wouldn't have minded if she worked those lips doing other things. The boy reached out to tap Nicki's magazine and wave a hand in front of her pretty face. Once he gained her attention again, he smiled at her and asked silently...

"What's your name?"

Nicki was pissed, so she decided to show it. She put her magazine down, stuck a finger in her mouth, and then twirled the gum around the finger and smiled seductively. The boy seemed to like that and bit his lip as he watched Nicki flirt with him. She crept closer to the boy's face then stopped flirting entirely and shoved her gum in the boy's nose and right ear before smacking his head. She iffed at him to completely scare him then went back to what she was doing. This was going to be a long flight.

"Excuse me, miss," a flight attendant called. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Honey-roasted peanuts, Oreo cookie yogurt, and a grape juice?" Nicki asked. The attendant retrieved what she asked for pulled her eating tray out from the back of the seat. Nicki paused her reggae tunes and asked, "One more thing. Do you have any hand sanitizer?"

* * *

><p>"Hello, Los Angeles, this is your DJ, Ian Schiek the Shriek on FM radio rock station 95.9. We've got a young band named Stagnant Pulse from Nivaldo Gillian High, home of the purple knights, playing for us this morning as well as guest appearances from Green Day and Avenged Sevenfold to promote the punk rock benefit concert traveling all around California to support young artists from poverished backgrounds. It sounds like a very promising event, isn't that right, Danny?"<p>

"It sure does. For the struggling artists and for surprisingly cheerleaders."

"That's right, word on the street says the promoters and supervisors of the benefit concert are holding a competition for cheerleaders to perform with the bands and tour with them to a few cities for gigs," DJ Shriek announced. "It's all for the cause for these kids; most of them are in schools like this new band coming up and live with struggling parents and with the music industry being you know what they find it hard to sell much."

"Things seem to be looking up for kids all over Cali. Let's quit talkin' and get the rock band from Nivaldo Gill, Stagnant Pulse."

Outside of the recording studio, six teenagers dressed in some article of black clothing were sitting next to the door of opportunity. One of the boys holding drumsticks in one hand was rubbing his stomach as it twisted and turned in ways he was not liking. He wore a blue mesh shirt and black chained cargo pants with black and blue Converse. He wore leather arms bands with blue spikes on them and a blue nosering. His hair was cut short on the sides and gave him a mohawk look. He was bouncing his leg up and down, trying to fight off his nervous tension but that wasn't working very well.

"Man, I don't think I should've eaten that biscuit this morning," one of the bandmates said.

"Dude, I swear to god if you puke on me, you're going to wish you never ate," another bandmate threatened.

The threatening presence next to the drummer was wearing a Slipknot t-shirt and regular denim jeans with Nike tennis shoes. His hair was spiked and he wore leather arm bands with a green skull in the middle. He was probably just as nervous as the drummer, but he didn't want to show it in front of the girls that were supporting the band. The guy next to the threatening kid chuckled a bit, making the leader of the group. The guy who laughed was wearing a shredded purple shirt with a black plaid fadora hat and black plaid chained vest. He wore black skinny jeans and converse with leather arm bands that had purple chains going horizontally across his wrist.

"Don't be so nervous, Allen. You'll look vulnerable," the hatted boy said, sarcastically.

"Stagnant Pulse, you're up!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna start heaving," the drummer remarked, now feeling his stomach lose itself.

"Guys, come on, we've practiced this a dozen times. What's there to be nervous about? We've been together since middle school; no one's gonna kick anyone's ass for heaving a few chunks of biscuit. We have each other's support no matter what. Just see yourself giving it your all and you can't fail. Alright, guys, let's go," the leader said.

He was the most calm out of the group. Vacious Ubersax, otherwise known as Vicious, was the vocalist and frontman of Stagnant Pulse; in fact, he was also the founder of the band and its mates. Since he was just a young boy growing up in Alaska with his little sister, Lara, he wanted to be an American rock artist like Chad Kroeger, Scott Weiland, Kurt Cobain, David Grohl, Axl Rose or even Dave Mustaine. There was always a sense of community and energy when he listened to rock n' roll and all of its content. He wanted to be a part of that. He and his band practiced for days, getting their songs perfect for this performance, and nothing was going to break them down now. They knew what they were going to open their gig with, and they only had three songs to get right. So Brian, the band's drummer, might heave some biscuit, at least he'll get back on his feet and play the rest of the way. If not, Colin, the bass player, could replace Brian at the drums. That's what they were prepared for since they were accepted to play on this station.

* * *

><p>The plane had finally landed in Los Angeles, California. Nicki was more than happy to get off the cursed plane and away from everyone on it. Her father, Mark Cabrini, was busying himself with pulling the bags out from above her head while her mother pulled her into the aisle to retrieve the small bags. Everyone got their bags and left out of the plane. Nicki followed her parents into the airport's lounge and noticed a woman holding a sign up high above her head as she looked about. The sign said Mark Cabrini and family. It seemed like the smallest things were going to remind her about her cheerleading squad back in her hometown. Farah used to hold signs up all the time because she was so tall, and she or Eda would stand next to her shaking their pompoms or cheering loudly to get the crowd's attention at the pep rally. What was that legend about cheerleaders and spirit sticks again? Oh, if it dropped, you'd be cursed for life, right?<p>

"Daddy, that lady got your name on her sign," Nicki said, trying not to think about cheerleading legends and curses that follow.

"Hm?" Mark questioned, looking up to see the woman with the sign. "Oh! Hi, I'm Mark."

Nicki watched her father run to the woman with blonde hair and waited with her mother. The woman came over to them after a few moments and directed them to a pick-up van in the parking lot. Los Angeles was a pretty city when you took a step back and just observed the surroundings. The palm trees were really full and tall as they reached toward the sun. Nicki got inside of the van with her family and just enjoyed the ride to her new home. An hour passed before the van finally stopped in front of a rather large two-story home. It was definitely larger than the small house they lived in back home. The house was a soft blue color and the windows were long and cut to perspective. The palm trees were small but nice. A little more landscaping and the house would be perfect.

"This the new house?" Nicki asked, pointing to the ground in a circular motion.

"I guess so," Mark answered. "I hope the rent is as nice as the house."

"You better hope the house note is nicer than the house," Nicki's mother, Geneva, commented.

"With you being new residents, we understand you're going to need some time to adjust to your new house," the woman said. "Also, the utilities won't be on and working until five o'clock. Your furniture is in a storage facility right now and won't be moved here until another hour, so I'll give you a tour of the house and show you a map of the area."

"That's not too bad," Geneva said. "It's after three now. Mark, show Nicki to her new school. I'm a stay with the lady."

"You sure, Jenny?"

"Boy, go 'head. I'm a be alright," Geneva said, waving him off. Once she turned to the woman, however, she balled her hand into a fist and punched her open palm. She said, cracking her neck, "Ain't that right, ma'am?"

"Yes, we'll be fine," the woman said, terrified of death from a black woman from the hood. "James, be a doll and show Mr. Cabrini the school he enrolled his beautiful daughter in. I'm sure you know where Nivaldo Gillian High is, right?"

"Yes, Ms. Sanders," James answered, directing Mark and Nicki to the van once again.

"Alright. Come on, baby," Mark said, draping his large arm around his daughter's shoulders. "We goin' to the school house!"


	3. Hopes

James, the van driver, and Mark, Nicki's father were talking in the front seats of the car as Nicki watched everything zip by in the back. They passed the most crowded beach in Los Angeles, but she thought it looked fun to rollerblade around in a bikini with an iPOD strapped to her back. There was a nice-looking ice cream dots stand, too. That could be something to look forward to. A skateboarder did a stunt on some railing before falling on his side. His friends ran to him, one with a camera in his hand, and the other one was asking if he was okay and smiled when he saw that he just stood back up and tried again. It was then that Nicki felt homesick instantly. She was wearing her earphones to keep herself busy and to stop thinking about her old school life. It was getting harder and harder, though. She felt like crying more and more as time went by, but she had to be strong for herself. She may be far away from her friends, but she could always make new ones. No one said it was going to be easy just a longer journey to happiness.

Once she chose another reggae song to play on her Sansa Fuze, she looked up to see some high school cheerleaders walking towards a kiosk and reading some flyers. Now that she was away, would she be able to continue cheerleading in Los Angeles? She put her heart and soul into the Young A. Wessex Suns cheerleading squad. She didn't know if she could continue, especially with the knowledge that she won't ever be able to make captain. Spirit law in her school stated that no cheerleader is nominated captain unless he or she has attended a school since freshman year. Yeah, so those dreams of being captain were tarnished for good, but there shouldn't be any harm in checking out regionals or nationals. Besides, there was still gymnastics, dancing, and volleyball to keep her going. She had other interests, so she wouldn't be depressed for long. She was actually the only girl in her old squad who loved other things besides cheerleading and boys. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't going to miss her boyfriend, Daryl Joseph, at all. All he cared about was an ambitious woman with a big booty and if luck should be on his side some "smokin' titties" is what he would say. Maybe here in Los Angeles she could find a better boyfriend. A lot of actors and musicians move here to become international celebrities, and that took ambition, luck, talent, and intelligence. If lady luck liked her enough, she could probably find someone romantic and sweet but a little different and edgy. Being a girl from the hood didn't mean she was only into gangsters and thugs.

When a bump interrupted Nicki's thoughts, she was finally able to see her new school peering back at her. Of course, it looked empty since it was still summer and no student wants to be at school over the summer, but its campus was large enough to make the school look deserted. The school building itself was a mix between an old Gothic church and a modern art facility. There was a metal statue in the middle of a fountain in the middle of the front lawn, and recycling bins were next to every trashcan. Apparently, Nivaldo Gill was "going green." The campus was especially neat and clean to prove it. It was beautiful! The only thing that bothered Nicki about the school was its lack of flowers. That was a let-down, but Nicki believed she could fix that. She promised herself that before school started she would buy some flowers for the house and some for the teachers. No place was perfect without a little color, and Nicki was a girl who needed color to satisfy her now dull but potentially better life. As James pulled into the parking lot, Nicki took notice to the true size of Nivaldo Gill and realized it was a lot bigger in person than in posters.

"Damn, this place is huge," Nicki whispered, turning the music player's volume down.

James parked the van in an empty guest spot, shifted the gears, and killed the engine. Nicki was the first to get out of the car and walk to the sidewalk in front of them. Mark stepped out of the van, put his sunglasses atop his head, and a made a disapproving hiss.

"Look at all that campus!" he complained, walking to the sidewalk. He was no more than twenty or thirty steps from the van before he said, "Anybody tryin' to lose weight can walk 'round the parkin' lot. Lose plenty pounds."

"Where are we goin'?" Nicki asked, following her father.

"Counselor's Office to get your schedule together," Mark said, rubbing his round stomach. He wasn't exactly a skinny man, but he wasn't fat either. He just liked to eat. Mark turned to his daughter and said, "You gon be goin' here from now on."

Nicki sighed as she noticed banners hanging on poles that honored the founders of the school and the familiar armored knight mascot. She wasn't sure how she recognized anything related to this school, but something persistently told her that she knew this school. She asked, "What's the name of this school again?"

"Nivaldo Gillian, home of the purple knights."

"I know I've heard of that name before," Nicki said, thinking to herself of any possibility she may have had in crossing the name. "I don't remember where, though."

"This might be one of them regional championship schools. They got a bunch of teams."

"Nah, their sports' teams suck," Nicki said, chuckled. "I saw the records for the football games on yo' new Blackberry, and it wasn't that hot. They got a bunch o' teams fo' nothin'."

"What chu know about the football stats?" Mark questioned, though a bit disappointed. He was a star football player himself in high school.

"The average winning for this team is two out of thirteen regional games," Nicki said, scoffing. This school made Wessex High's team look better; at least they won seven games out of the regional championships one year. "So that's what? About fifteen percent of the time they might have a winning chance? Pfft!"

"Well, alright, it's a little fall from grace of the football we used to, but we gotta make the best of it," Mark said, rubbing Nicki's shoulder with his rough hand. He pushed open the door and followed his daughter inside the Counselor's Office.

* * *

><p>Vacious Ubersax, the vocalist for Stagnant Pulse, was experiencing an emotional high and low as he walked from his car to the front entrance of Nivaldo Gillian. At times like these, he should be running around the school then to his girlfriend for a kiss and telling everyone that he got a spot on the radio and was able to sing a few songs as tribute to the Grunge movement and Thrash Metal. However, Vacious was less than excited as he should be. His girlfriend wasn't in his life anymore, even though he wanted her to be. He knew it was stupid to find love in high school because everyone knows you're a kid who should be studying but your friends pressure you into dating and sex, but he had genuine feelings for his sweetheart. Now, when he wants to shout about his successes to her, he just buries the euphoria deep instead and uses silence as maturity. Many in school think he's the cool kid who takes no shit, but he knows himself better than that. He loves being noticed for his talents in music; he loves hearing the praise from people who thought he was too different to make it; he loves having the opportunity to showcase his voice and lyrics and band. He just wished he could find someone to tell it to - someone who could see how hard he worked, someone who knew what he wanted to hear the most, someone he could talk to. It didn't have to be a girl, just a friend. Vacious made some decent friends among the goths at school and the circle of friends he had in the band, but he didn't have a best friend. Neither did his more outspoken sister, Lara, and she loved cheerleading. That cursed sport took away a lot of things from him and his sister: trust, optimism, a place to belong, passion. All those things were missing.<p>

As Vacious walked inside the Couselor's Office, he stepped to the sign-in chart in the office and read two names he hadn't heard before: Parent, Marquis Cabrini, and Student, Nicole Cabrini. Not wanting to think too hard about weird names, he shook his head then signed himself in for counseling. The minute he started signing, he saw a girl zip behind him and saunter over to the Kentwood water dispenser. She was probably the same height as his sister if not taller, had long legs, and she had a very clean hairstyle like a model or popular girl. The way she carried herself didn't seem like a popular girl or a model, though. Her swag was straight, in control, and mature like she might've been a senior who knew what she was going to do in college and no frat boy or pervy teacher was going to break her down, but Vacious knew a lot of seniors in NG High. No way would he miss a profile that hot. Though he was Alaskan-bred and raised in some shady neighborhoods growing up, Vacious wasn't always attracted to African-American women since a majority of them were into Denzel Washington, Jay-Z for hopefully the money, and some other people he would never hear about or be interested in. However, he did like how this black girl carried herself. He watched her bend over slightly to get two cups of water before noticing he was ogling at her butt. Just because a girl bends over in cute, striped shorts doesn't mean it's an invitation, right? Well, apparently, that didn't quite register in Vacious's mind. He tried to stay focused to write his name, but his eyes would wander back to the girl. Even as she drunk water, she held the cup from the top rather than the side which just fascinated him and made him thirsty at the same time. He turned to complete his name then licked his lips before walking to the water dispenser.

The girl made good timing when a voice called out to her. She hurriedly filled the two cups with water again after drinking both cups down and walked to the direction of the voice. Vacious grabbed a cup, filled it with water, and then basically followed the girl to her counselor's office to overhear the conversation going on.

"Alright, Ms. Cabrini, it says here on your student account that you received some scholarship money."

"Which scholarships? I didn't have time to sign-up for any."

"You got the FANS Funding Program scholarship, which helps transfer students pay for their tuition for the first year at any school of their choosing, the LAF Grant, which gives transfer students money for books and supplies, and a work-study job at the cafeteria to pay for your lunch. This is all you have on your account. If you need more money, you can accept a loan from the school."

"We don't want to do that," Mark said, waving that suggestion off completely, "so we'll work something out when she gets her syllabus. Is there a bus she can take to get here?"

"Well, there's a public bus that runs through your area that stops two blocks away from the school; other than that, I don't know for sure if our school buses pass through your neighborhood. You would have to go to the transportation services on the second floor to find out."

"Oh, well, she can take the public bus," Mark said, accepting that suggestion over the other one.

"You gon give me bus fare?" Nicki asked.

"Yeah," Mark answered, wondering why she had to ask that question.

"Alright, I'm a hold you to that. When are my hours for the cafeteria duty?"

"You've got the morning duty from 7:30 to 8:30, and lunch duty from 10 to 1:30. You might be called for afterschool duty from 4 to 5 for the sports' teams, academic teams, and so forth."

"There you go baby. You can try-out for an afterschool team," Mark said, turning to Nicki and hinting he wanted her to at least try to cheer up and join a team.

"Oh, are you an athlete?"

"Just cheerleading and volleyball," Nicki said, shaking her head lightly.

_No..._ Vacious thought, heart plummeting in his stomach. He took some deep breaths to control the emotional low that was beginning to overwhelm him then thought, _It's okay, dude. You don't know anything about this girl other than the fact that she was a thirsty beast earlier. She doesn't mean anything to you. So what if she is a cheer-transfer? That doesn't mean anything to you, dude. Just calm down, calm down..._

"Funny you should mention that. The cheerleaders are in the yard practicing right now; the volleyball team just left school for training camp, though. You just missed them."

"You wanna go check 'em out, baby?" Mark asked.

Nicki blew out a breath between her lips then said resignedly, "Why not? It's not a guarantee I won't like it."

* * *

><p>"Ready, girls?" a teenager shouted, clapping her hands optimistically. "We're gonna change the formation here to a right hip dip on 4. Alright, and 5, 6, 7, 8! And 1, 2, 3, dip, 5, 6, 7, 8! Good!"<p>

The young teenager seemed to be a regular quirky girl at first glance, but, as she watched everyone's movements, her face turned red with dissatisfaction. She stomped over to the boombox, smacked the stop button, and began shouting her disapproval of some of the steps. The squad were very pristine and synchronized with a majority of their movements, but they didn't need someone pushing them to their absolute limit. They all were no more than eighteen years old at this point. Why push them to insanity over a little wrong move? Teresa Puccini, the curly red-head from a small town in Italy, cared a great deal since she was the Nivaldo Gillian Knights' cheerleading captain. She fought hard to be better than her previous captain, who was a striking brunette and cheerleading tyrant, but as she progressed to graduation with only herself to challenge her rule over the Purple Knights she was slowly beginning to realize why the "spirit stick curse" fell over all the captains at this school. She couldn't begin to wonder why that curse only wrecked a captain's insanity; she just wanted to win nationals this year without anyone's help and that included her own team. How she managed to make it this far was a wonder.

"Let's just take a water break!" Teresa said, calming herself down. "I'm just as tired of bitching as you guys are tired of listening. Hurry up, we only have one more hour before we talk about nationals this year."

"What's stressing you out, Poochie? You're normally a little more controlled than this," Teresa's brunette friend, Yonnie, said in playful concern. "You already redid all the cheers and routines for us. Don't spazz out on us."

"Redoing everything was tough work alone since I made captain. I don't want the squad to hit rock bottom until we've gone sky high," Teresa said, flipping her curly hair over her shoulder. She looked out into the bleachers, noting that no one was there as usual, and tried to remember why she routinely looked in the direction of the bleachers. But, ever since she'd been working her ass off trying to rework routines her old captain drilled into their subconscious, she kept forgetting the reason she searched in the bleachers. Though she knew it was for a person, she couldn't really remember the face she was looking for.

"We are so dominating this year's regionals. I don't know how you do it," Teresa's blonde friend, Michelle, said with a big, confident smile.

"I do it the same way I got on this squad: with attitude," Teresa replied, heading to the bleachers to sit on one. It was then she began to remember why she kept coming to them. Her ex-boyfriend and the hottest goth in the school, Vacious Ubersax, used to watch her on the bleachers as he wrote songs in his "Collections" journal. It was on the third bleacher where he would play his acoustic guitar during practice. A bunch of the other girls would flirt with him, but he always had his attention to Teresa. When practice was over, they would play around and chase each other before he sang a sweet love song to her. Too bad her new boyfriend didn't sing to her like Vacious did; he wasn't a very good lay like Vacious was either, but that took practice anyway. How Vacious managed to have good bed skills for his first time was beyond her, but he was easy to forget about. At least her new boyfriend was the star running back and aspiring dentist. You can't fail in the dentistry business, but you can certainly waste your entire existence on a music career, especially if you're not as big as...Nickelbust, A7ten, or whatever those bands were called that Vacious loved listening to so much.

"Hey, Poochie, someone's dad is checking you out," a guy cheerleader said, pointing to a nearby window.

Teresa turned to the general direction the cheerleader pointed in and saw a rotund man placing his rough hand under his shirt to rub his belly. She cringed her nose and said, "Ew, he's not even that cute."

Michelle turned to see a teenage girl next to the man. She waved at them in a friendly yet obnoxious manner and said, "He has a daughter. Think she's cheering material?"

Teresa sighed, wondering where the goth pin-up boy might have been, but decided to think about more important things like someone's dad staring at her. She said, "We'd have to see them up close and personal. She might be another nobody like those losers in the south. They make our losers look better. Did you see some of the skirts they were wearing? Their asses could barely stay covered. It was so cheesy."

Michelle pouted a bit, trying to think of someone who wasn't cheesy among the Southern cheerleading squads. She remembered one girl and asked, "What about that one gymnast in the Wessex Suns? I forget her name."

Teresa crossed her long leg the sipped some water before saying, "If you forgot it, she wasn't that important."

Yonnie took a moment to think about who Michelle was referring to then suddenly remembered something, "No, I know who you mean. There were four girls that stood out in the Suns. The big girl who had strong arm stances, the tall girl who practiced the helicopter, one girl named Unique, and another girl. Dammit, I can't remember her name! But she was good."

"I don't recall anyone being that good in the Wessex Suns except helicopter girl who I only saw do the helicopter," Teresa said, rolling her eyes and scoffing. "Unique is a name, not a memorable performer. Fat girls aren't allowed on our squad unless they're good gymnasts or can hold up a pyramid; her fat jiggled stronger than her arm stances. Their coach would've made the best cheerleader on that cheer-tastrophe of a squad."

"Wait, the Cheer Camp didn't have coaches there," Michelle remarked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Of course their coach was there," Teresa said in a matter-of-fact tone, "or some choreographer they hired. She was the only one working with those losers."

Yonnie pointed at Teresa's comment and said, "That's the other cheerleader. She wasn't a coach; she was probably the captain."

"What good captain lets her team go around dressed in tight booty shorts practicing sloppy routines? Not even a great captain would let a team walk around that cheesy," Teresa said, placing her cup of water down. "And if no one can even remember her name, she was just as forgettable as the rest of the Suns. Subject dropped." Teresa said, silencing any further conversation. She looked at her watch and noticed it was almost half past four. "Alright, guys, practice is over. We'll meet here at 10:30 sharp tomorrow to finish this new routine. Get some sleep and get ready for early morning bitching."

* * *

><p>Mark and Nicki entered their new house with James to see the furniture perfectly set in place but still wrapped in plastics. Nicki's mother, Jenny, was opening the last box filled with dishes for the kitchen. She unwrapped one final cookout bowl from its newspaper and tape then placed it neatly in a drawer. James said his final goodbyes to the family before leaving out of the front door. Mark and Jenny began cuddling for a while as they put away flattened cardboard boxes in the recycle bin outside. Nicki decided to explore the whole house since she didn't get that opportunity in the beginning. The place was definitely bigger than her old home, and there was actually an extra guest room for someone to spend the night in. Her old house just had the three rooms and one-in-a-half bathrooms; this house had an extra of both. The good news about her new house was she got to have her own private bathroom. The bad news was she couldn't actually find her new room, but she did find a basement and the door to the garage. She walked to the end of the hallway underneath the stairs and found another door. She opened it, turned on the lights, and saw all of her things set in different parts of the room.<p>

She had wood floor in every part of the room except the tile floor in the bathroom and the carpet floor in the closet. Was that a walk-in closet? The walls were like a seawater green, which she didn't like at all but decided it was better than white, and her fan had dolphins on them. Whoever lived there previously liked the beach or something. The tile, wood, and carpet floors were all sandy colored. Yeah, she was definitely painting the walls a different color. That fan had to go, too. It wasn't that she didn't like dolphins and clean beach water; she just didn't want it in her room everyday. Good thing she knew how to paint and put tile down. The carpet floor could stay where it was, but the ugly spotted tiles had to go. Besides the ugly wall colors in her room, there were no flower gardens nearby. The first thing she was going to have to do was install a nice flowerbed by her window and maybe one in the backyard since her mother usually took care of the flowerbeds in the front yard. As Nicki looked at her furniture, she noticed nothing was matching with the stupid walls or floors. She was going to have to repaint everything just to match! But what colors would she use to match cream with cherry wood and light brown sand?

"Nicki, how you like your new school?" Jenny asked, leaning on the door.

Nicki turned around and smiled weakly before saying, "It's bigger than the old one."

"I know it's gonna be hard to let go of your old life, baby," her mother cooed, wrapping her small frame in a warm embrace. "It's only been a few hours since you left. If you want to cry, it's okay now."

Nicki nodded then squeezed her mother's shirt tightly and let out her emotions into her bosom. Jenny rocked her daughter back and forth, knowing she was hiding everything on purpose so she wouldn't seem weak. Nicki was far beyond weak. She was quite strong in personality and in heart. As a mother, she knew how hard it was to have to leave a life so soon without many parting words. She knew because she had to leave her life in San Diego to move to Arizona then Texas and finally Louisiana where she met her husband, Mark. She bottled all her tears in until Mark gave his shoulder to lean on.

"You know, I had to move from San Diego away from my mother for college my second year," Jenny said, feeling her daughter's head pop up a little. Somehow her daughter's cute, little face reminded her of the fear she had with having a daughter: boys. Los Angeles was a different ball game with boys and daughters. She inwardly hoped that no tattoo-infested, headbanger or Compton thug tried to ask her out her first few weeks here. If that was going to be the case, her nerves would be tarnished. She ignored those thoughts and said, "San Diego is a two-hour drive away from your grandmother's house. Maybe before school we can meet her at her house."

"You mean, Maw-maw Willa was commutin' from San Diego when she came to visit us every year?" Nicki chirped through hiccups and tears. Her tears were beginning to dry with news of her grandmother being here.

"Mm-hm," her mother hummed, nodding her head. "Let's go visit her over the weekend."

"Okay."


	4. A New Day and a New Year

Two weeks had finally passed for Nicki and her family. Her grandmother, Willa, was helping her get everything together for school tomorrow. Her clothes were finally in her new closet and dresser drawers, so all that was needed was to pull out anything the girl wanted to wear on her first day. Unfortunately, when Nicki, Willa, and Jenny went shopping to spend some quality "mother-daughter" time together, there wasn't much to do at the mall except eat. Most of the stores didn't have any event sales, even though school was coming up fast. Oddly enough, only jewelry, shoes, and purses were on sale the first day. Nicki got herself some nice pairs of shoes and a jewelry set, but not much else and that was particularly troubling for a girl her age. Most girls would be able to pick out something new and interesting from the mall, even if it was just a t-shirt or a book, but Nicki had different tastes like other different girls. She tried to convince the girl to get an animal hat like the kids were wearing now, but Nicki scoffed at the item and said "I ain' wearin' nothin' that resembles a pawn shop bear." It was actually quite funny to hear her say things of that nature. As they traveled to the mall some more, Willa noticed Nicki had taken an interest in prom and homecoming dresses. She also saw Nicki turning away from the dresses and knew she was going to miss her old life while living this new one. Seeing the depression in her eyes made Willa realize Nicki was going to be completely alone here in Los Angeles. Nicki was a charming girl with a unique personality, but she had to be in a welcoming environment to show others that beautiful person. Los Angeles was a bipolar city: either the people were mean to one person or nice to everyone else, or the people were nice to one person and mean to everyone else.

Willa had given Nicki a calendar to write down everything she may have needed to do at home like homework or nightly studying and another calendar for school to write down due dates for assignments, homework, and projects. She also made Nicki retell her schedule for tomorrow. The first thing she heard her granddaughter say was that she had to be sure to get a copy of the public bus schedule that passed through the neighborhood, so she went up to the calendar and marked that down for Wednesday since that's when school was starting. She also had to get a copy of her class schedule from the Counselor's Office. Enrollment was finalized, thankfully, so she didn't have to worry about classes. The mailbox and internet connection weren't in order quite yet, so she had to deal with keeping up with paperwork in the meantime. Not that she minded, though; it helped to have a hard copy of something. Nicki finished getting all her things together, sighed, and went to her vanity mirror to brush her hair. Her hairstyle had finally come out yesterday, so now she had the pleasure of wearing her hair straight down after flat-ironing it, but she couldn't exactly find her precious flat-iron anywhere.

"Maw-maw," Nicki chirped, gaining her grandmother's attention. "Can you put buy another flat-iron on the calender for Saturday?"

"Ya'll still didn't find the flat-iron?" Willa questioned.

" 'Fraid not, maw-maw," Nicki sighed, brushing her ends first.

"I got a hot comb in my suitcase. Want me ta straight comb ya hair?"

"Can you do it this weekend? It's gettin' late tonight. I gotta be up for 6."

"Alright, but it has to be before Sunday. You know, I got to go my sermons 'fore Monday 'cause ya never when ya gotta put a hurtin' on yo' daddy."

"But daddy not gon do nothin' wrong while he here," Nicki said, watching her grandmother leave her room with a look of 'yeah right' on her face. "I don' wan' know what she talkin' 'bout no mo'."

Nicki got up from her seat with the brush still in her hand and went into the bathroom to retrieve set-in lotion and leave-in conditioner. She plopped onto her bed, reaching for the remote, and turned on her TV to hear the weather reports for tonight and tomorrow. As she brushed out her hair and looked at the weather reporter, she heard screaming from the kitchen. It sounded close. She then saw her mother's shadow tugging at someone's clothes. Nicki hopped out of bed and raced to the hallway only to see her grandmother putting her father in a headlock and her mother waving her back into the room.

"Ah, mama, what the hell you doin'?" Jenny tried. "Nicki, stay in ya room! Stay in ya room!"

"Get back, gal, unless you want some of this too!" Willa shouted, snatching her wig off. "I saw you feelin' on my daughter booty like I wa'n't here, boy! The Lord as my witness, you gon be a abstinent mofo, you hear me boy!"

"Mama, he already got me pregnant once!" Jenny said, trying to convince Willa that groping on her bottom was just Mark's way of playing.

"I'll be damned if he do it again, Geneva!" Willa argued back, choking Mark to death...almost. Geneva managed to get her mother off her husband for a little while. Willa reached for her wig, placed it back on her head, and then stood up as if nothing happened to straighten out her clothes. Geneva turned to her husband, who was getting some comfort from his panicking daughter, and then knelt in front of him to see if he was okay. "Baby, you alright? Did she pull something?"

"Yeah, her wig off," Mark answered, rubbing his neck. Grandma Willa had a nice grip! He said, "Yo' mama got ta get the hell up outta here, Jenny."

"Nicki, help ya grandma get this box," Willa called.

"Comin' maw-maw!"

* * *

><p>Nicki wanted to kick herself for accepting morning duty for school. She had to be up for 5:30 in the morning just to catch a 6:20 bus that would take her to school in about fifty minutes down its route. The good thing was she would be dropped off at the bus stop right across the street from the school's back door where the cafeteria would be open. She stood in front of the back door, hoping it would be locked or that she didn't have to be here, but after she took a deep breath and turned the door's handle the door was nice, light, and easy to open. She rolled her eyes, scoffed, and then entered the cafeteria. It was spacious! There was actually a dip in the middle of the entire room where the tables were arranged like a mall's food court area. Above it were benches like the ones you saw at a restaurant lined up along the wall and near the exit was the area that she was used to. Little circle seats attached to long tables were aligned there. Nicki looked into the food court space again to see the mascot for Nivaldo Gillian High School. The minute she saw it, a look of shock and dread filled her face as she shouted...<p>

"I remember now! The Gillian Knights, I remember! They were at Cheer Camp judging our routines. They're three-time winning national champions!"

"Who are you?" a voice questioned.

Nicki snapped her head around and looked in an older woman's eyes. She was a round woman about her height with a scowl on her face as she eyed Nicki up and down. She was wearing a hair net, blue dress, and some white crocs. Her horn-rimmed glasses had pretty rhinestone beads hanging down, and her eyes were a beautiful shade of green. If the woman smiled a bit more and maybe changed her hairstyle, she would be quite the catch...for a lunchlady, of course. Nicki smiled brightly, surprising the woman as she arched one eyebrow, and laughed nervously to ease her embarrassment.

"Hello, I'm Nicole Cabrini. I'm the new work-study intern. I'm supposed to be on morning duty."

"Oh, the new girl," the woman realized, scoffing before laughing a bit. She was in for a long year, but she was cute so she thought about going easy on her for today. "Go to the back, next to the restroom, there's gonna be a uniform for you to wear. When you're through, take out the garbage and wash out the cans for the janitors to put new trash bags in them. When you're done with that, wipe off all the tables so they look clean. After that, you can help me put the food in each of the buffets. A minute wasted is a dollar lost. Got all that?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nicki answered, rushing off to find the restroom.

"New girl," the woman called, stopping Nicki. "The restroom is to your left. Locker room is the second door to your right. Try to remember that from now on."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Nicki said, trying to figure out why there was a locker room in the back of a cafeteria.

"Well, get a move on," the woman said, waving a hand at Nicki to shoo. "We got thirty-five minutes 'fore the other brats come in complaining their moms and dads don't care about feedin' 'em."

"W-w-wait, aren't you gonna tell me your name before I start?" Nicki asked, stalling.

"Back in my day when I didn't want to do somethin', I tried to be as cute as you. Alas, here I am, lookin' at a spittin' image of my old self. Name's Beatrice, new girl. Now get the hell in there and change."

"Yes, Ms. Beatrice..." Nicki mumbled, trudging to the locker room now.

* * *

><p>Lara Ubersax hated mornings. In fact, if she could pick a time worst than the first day of school, it was every Wednesday morning at 6:30. Thankfully, she could start a saving plan for the new year to buy her own car and insurance since her parents were already working early mornings and late nights with her father's full-time job and her mother's two part-time jobs. Vacious usually carpooled with his friend and bandmate, Allen Porters, but his car was a metal death trap. Perfect for the thrashgrunge metal band. Lara loved Vacious to death as her only brother, but he could just be a flat-out dick sometimes like today. Today, Vacious was supposed to wake her up so they could carpool with Allen to school, but Vacious spent the night over at Allen's to work on new material for other radio station gigs and didn't call for her to be ready. Her parents were rarely home as it was, so she had the house to herself until she had fallen asleep.

Rising out of her bed, Lara went into the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. As usual she looked tired. Not from work at Hot Topic in Antelope Valley Mall, not from sleep deprivation, she was just tired of being alone. Unlike her rockstar-to-be brother, she didn't have any friends other than maybe Angela, the one girl supporter of Stagnant Pulse other than herself, and being a goth who liked cheerleading didn't really do much for her either. Teresa Puccini, the new squad captain, made sure Lara stopped liking her favorite after school sport besides baseball. From what she heard on the radio last night, the punk rock benefit concert was going to be held some time after the UCA National championship. She had no doubts that the NG Knights were going for it this year. Tryouts this year were going to be brutal to ensure Nivaldo Gillian's place as four-year winning champions since the Rancho Carne Toros beat them out two years in a row, the East Compton Clovers won two years in a row, Pacific Vista won one year, and some other squads took them out until 2009 when the snobbish captain of the Knights got them their first trophy. With the pressure of being captain and trying to win her first competition, Teresa was probably going through hell...and that was all right with Lara. What goes around comes around, right? Exactly.

Shaking her head, Lara took care of her daily hygiene and got dressed in some red plaid pants with a chain on the belt loop, a black t-shirt since it was still summer, plaid gloves, and black converse with a plaid red skull and shoe strings. She went back in the bathroom to hide her dark circles with black eyeliner and red eyeshadow before officially going to the kitchen to eat something. As Lara fixed two hot pockets, one egg, one piece of bacon, and one slice of toast, she got out the last bit of cranberry grape juice then turned on the TV. She started to grow curious about the national competition as she watched some of the weather channel, however. Wouldn't you know the weatherman says it's going to rain around lunchtime? The exact time when she has to go pick up her work schedule for the week is when it'll rain. Yeah, today was not going to be a good day. Suddenly, to her surprise, news on the national competition was on VH1 right when Breaking Benjamin's music video was ending.

"This oughtta be good," the teen said, tucking her brown hair behind her ear.

**Hi, I'm Tanner McRyan. I'll be your update news guy for the UCA National Cheerleading Competition. Now, you may be wondering why in hell does anyone care about cheerleaders, but a few weeks ago it was announced that iconic punk bands such as Green Day, Avril Lavigne, and Avenged Sevenfold just to name a few possible appearances were getting together as a support group to help young musicians experiencing problems at home or with health jumpstart their music careers and encourage them to donate to other charities like cancer prevention or go green. One of these bands will choose ten cheerleading teams from regionals or nationals that they think represents the purpose of the charity the most, and those cheering squads will enter another competition. Whoever wins that competition will not only appear in concert but they will also appear in a music video as part of a PA ad. More details on the competition dates, bands to appear, and more will be posted on our website. Just look up Punk PumpUp Details on our directory**** for more info posted by me.**

Lara scoffed, shook her head, and then turned off the TV. She said to herself, "What a joke."

With that, she put her dirty dishes away, grabbed her bookbag and house keys, and left the house to catch the bus.

* * *

><p>"Alright, café's opening, people," Beatrice called, gaining the attention of the lunch staff. "Let's get behind these counters. New girl!"<p>

"I'm still outside!" Nicki called, turning the water back on to rinse out the weekend crap that was in the trashcan. Earlier, she had gotten some of it on her lip until she wiped it and her lipgloss off. She inwardly hoped she never took her lip balm treatment out of her purse. Otherwise, she was going to have one hell of a day. Luckily, it was her last trashcan.

"Well, hurry it up, you need to get the rules for the new policy here!" Beatrice said, chuckling a bit.

"Coming!" Nicki was finally done with the last can and set it aside. She ran out to where the staff were gathering and said, "Ms. Beatrice, you can call me Nicole, or Nicki if you like. Instead of havin' to say new girl all the time."

"I'm old and I'm tired. I ain't got the time to be remembering no names; you see what I'm sayin'?" Beatrice said, getting close to Nicki's face as she nodded hurriedly. Beatrice straightened up then said, "Now, let's go over the new etiquette. Principal Berkley gave me last year's review summary for our luncheon and what not. Our ratings plummeted."

"What do you mean 'plummeted'?" an older woman with blonde hair questioned. She was bit thinner and younger than Beatrice, but she was still one of the oldest staff members there. She didn't sound very surprised about the ratings decreasing, however.

Nicki was probably the only one concerned about ratings plummeting. From a mathematician's point of view, a decrease in ratings was never good and it usually meant the quantity of the units exceeded the quality of the units' purpose. She began to calculate a basic percentage as an example to represent the rating.

_If the overall score for quality dining in the school was 5.5 and 100 students counted as one unit, theoretically ten units would equal 1,000 students_, Nicki thought, gazing into space. _Hypothetically speaking, if we're looking for a basic quality percentage, then we can say the overall score divided by the number of units is the basic decimal. 5.5 divided by 10 is just 0.55, and 0.55 times 100 is 55, so that means the basic quality percentage is 55%. That's not a bad average, but it isn't good either. The lower the percentage, the less students will eat during lunch and the moodier the classes will be. If the rating plummets to 4 with the same number of units as before, then the decimal will be 0.4 and the percentage will be 40%. That means 400 students will stop eating lunch, and some of the staff members are at higher risk of losing their jobs should the number increase in any way._

"Well, Miley, it means we sucked last year. Apparently, our rating dropped from a 6.9 to a 3.2. We all know how it is with the end-of-year surveys. They review us before the last week of school, and we always get crap statements like we don't smile enough or we talk down on them. They've yet to say that they try to stab us with sporks if they're ketchup is too cold for their sensitive little tongues. Or that we're simply using self-defense so the little savages don't eat our insides out 'cause they're nuts. What's really astounding, though, is that we've almost reached full capacity for this school. There's a lot more kids now who signed up for a meal plan or received some retarded discount from the government."

"Hey, Ms. Beatrice, how many students are enrolled this year?" Nicki asked.

"Princey Poo says we got 3,568 students this year," Beatrice teased, making some people laugh. She noticed that Nicki immediately took out her cellphone but had a look of concern and intrigue as she pushed buttons. Beatrice raised her eyebrow and asked, "What're you doing new girl?"

"Math," Nicki answered, gaining the interest of the staff members as she stopped to think then typed something else. "I need a percentage for what you're saying."

"Why do you need a percentage?" Miley asked, seeing a decimal in the large set of numbers.

"To make you realize ya'll is close to losin' your jobs," Nicki said, satisfied with her answer but not with how small it was. "You're serving food with 8.97% quality. If you keep working with a small number like that, over 3000 students aren't going to eat here. I'm surprised any of you are still here as it is. Ya'll gon be gone by the end of first quarter if the rating drops any further."

Beatrice and Miley looked at each other in surprise as Nicki continued to explain how she got the quality percentage in the simplest terms. As the staff continued to listen to the girl, they grew to respect her and became somewhat attached. It was refreshing to see one person at least care that they were doing poorly with serving others. No one wanted to lose their jobs, even though they couldn't stand them, because they were all family in Nivaldo Gillian. Sure, working as lunch lady sucked some times, but it didn't mean it had to suck every day. When the bell rung for school to unlock the front doors and lock the back ones, Beatrice sighed then turned to everyone in new hopes that the new girl could help them get more people to eat here but also to be able to defend herself. Nicki was such a cute, little girl, and boys exist in every part of the world no matter what nuclear war tries to get rid of them.

"Alright, people, listen up. We didn't go over all the etiquette with the new girl, so let's break it down for her while setting up. Come on, new girl, to the register," Beatrice said, waving her hand for Nicki to shoo. She watched as Nicki ran to the back to wash her hands then put the hand gloves on. Beatrice smirked before realizing she was about to smile and said, "First thing you should know, new girl, is to always smile for the kids. Personally, I like to imagine all my bills are paid in full for the year, so smile big and wide, say something nice, and don't snap no necks or you're fired."

A tall, big-hipped woman came up to Nicki with some tongs and instructed, "Also, watch your portion distribution. Every kid gets equal share; no one is a favorite. If you see a good-looking boy, don't fall for that face. Be firm and strong; he only gets one scoop like every other boy. If an ugly one comes up to you, give him two scoops. He might look better if he eats more."

A tall, black man then proceeded to talk and informed, "Now, sometimes, these kids catch an attitude because they want more food. This is a one kid, one meal policy. They don't like it, back of the line. If anyone jumps across the counter to choke you for more macaroni, call the cops or kick his ass. If anyone gets nasty with you, back of the line. Understood?"

"Lemme get this straight. Be friendly to everyone if you can, watch the portions, and knock the shit out the crazy ones?" Nicki summarized, feeling the 'inner thug' in her coming out.

"Think you c'n handle all that, new girl?" Beatrice questioned.

"We good," Nicki said, cracking her knuckles then her neck. "Bring it on."

* * *

><p>Unique Beaux was ecstatic this school year. Nicki was officially out of the picture as a candidate for the Wessex Suns cheerleading captain! Yes! She was going to be the captain for sure, and she could totally win Daryl Joseph's heart now. Her luck was finally changing! This year, she was going to be a better captain than her sister and her mother combined. Neither one of them could get their high school cheerleading teams to win regionals or nationals, but she was going to be the first to change all of that. However, she did have Nicki to thank for a lot of things. One, her choreography skills got them the vote for most potential to win regionals in their respective state; two, Nicki made some good suggestions for changing routines and uniforms; three, Nicki videotaped all her moves and the squad's dance steps. That little naive bitch gave Unique all the stepping stones she needed to come up with some kickass routines that would win everything. The only thing standing in her way now would probably be the financial support to get to Houston.<p>

Coach Adrienne was talking about the details for the cheerleading competitions now. Unique didn't pay attention to most of it since she didn't really care too much about that part. Yeah, they were going to need some money for Houston, but who cared? Nicki wasn't here and she was so going to be nominated captain. Daryl Joseph, star point guard of the Suns' basketball team, was watching everything on the sidelines. Like many of the other cheerleaders sitting on the gym's cold floor, Unique noticed that Daryl was seriously depressed. Normally, Daryl would be with his boys or something, but he was calmly watching the cheerleading squad and not pestering them in any way. Whoa, super shocker.

The truth behind his depression was actually something no one would've guessed. He was sad because he lost his first love, Nicki. Ever since they were in middle school, Daryl wanted Nicki to be his girlfriend one day, and he managed to obtain that wish his sophomore year. As they got to know each other more, he wanted Nicki to be his first lay. She was his type: ambitious, cute, beautiful body - since he's the only one who's seen it out of uniform and into a swimsuit, dress, shorts, jeans, and all that good stuff, great dancer (he has two left feet), down-to-earth, super sweet, and surprisingly really smart for a cheerleader. He couldn't believe that she was just gone when Eda and Farah told everyone the news. How could her parents just take away his dream girl so fast? Daryl did come across as a jerk sometimes when it came to the topic of women and sex, but he was only interested in one girl to have sex with. Now that she was gone, he was going to have to find someone else to love and desire. It was going to be hard to find another like Nicki, though. She was the genuine article in his opinion. Without another word, Daryl scratched his head, feeling the oil spray from his haircut under his fingernails, and then left the gym.

_Poor Daryl_, Unique thought, smirking deviously. _Someone should comfort the sad, little boy. I'm sure he's going to need a woman's touch._


	5. PRP: Pep Rally People: Day 1

Beatrice was feeling quite proud of her team. The new girl was blending into her role as a server and was attracting more of the male population to the breakfast area. If the principal could assign more cute girls and boys to the lunch staff, this cafeteria would be crawling with kids. However, she pushed her pride back and continued to monitor Nicki on occassion. Suddenly, to her dismay, the cheerleading squad entered the cafeteria. The redhead girl, Teresa Puccini, was just like Nicki when she first met her: cute, funny, charming, and full of spirit. She may not have cared if Beatrice and the others were losing their jobs like Nicki did, but she was certainly a pleasant young lady before she met that black-wearing punk. Inwardly, she was praying that Nicki didn't end up like Teresa in any way. She didn't want to see another charming young woman spiral into insanity because of some boy who can't keep his pants on. It pained her to see Teresa behave like a spoiled brat nowadays. Nicki went to retrieve a sandwich from the toaster before serving yet another junior with an adoring smile. The junior ended up flirting with Nicki like some of the other boys before paying for his food. Twice, some girls were flirting with her, but Nicki kindly stayed in her place and served them with the same courtesy as everyone else.

Some football players shoved a few kids around to make an entrance for Teresa and her gang. The girls looked up to read from the menu and picked what they wanted. Lara Ubersax came in the cafeteria a little bit after the jostling occurred. There were a few people scattered around like usual, but lunch was the busiest hour. That's when she'll see everyone, including Vacious and his friends. She didn't really have any, so she just hung out with her brother and his gang. She changed songs on her iPOD and played Metallica's "Fade to Black" as she retrieved a tray from the side of the serving counter. As she helped herself to a few sides, she noticed that she was next to Michelle who was right next to Teresa. She turned the iPOD low to avoid speaking to the three cheerleaders that ruined her love of cheerleading and tried her best to fade away or become invisible.

"Hey, how can I help you?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Teresa, Michelle, Yonnie, and Lara looked up to see a teenage black girl staring them in the face with a warm, gentle smile. Teresa was genuinely surprised that a cute girl like this one would work behind that counter. It was so uncool, but she had a pleasant voice and was being sweet. She then thought the girl probably acted sweet to everyone that came this far up the serving area. She wouldn't be surprised if the girl acted sweet with her boyfriend either. They probably bang each other senseless. Her lips looked experienced from the way she smiled and spoke.

"I'd like an egg sandwich with hash browns," Teresa said, smiling back at the girl.

"Alrighty, bacon or sausage, ma'am?" the girl asked, pulling a long silver tray out.

Teresa scoffed, disgusted by the suggestion of something fattening in the morning, and then wondered where the hell this girl came from. Even the people behind the serving area knew Teresa didn't eat the meat at school. They all were watching the new girl, as if they wanted to see what she'd say. Teresa questioned, "What are you, new here? Pork is fattening, and cheerleaders don't get far fat."

Lara put her head down, knowing the girl would just say an apology and roll over for the redhead, but was very shocked to hear... "Take you and your attitude to the end of the line. Next!"

All the girls were godsmacked to see the girl change from such a sweetheart to a headstrong and angry woman. Lara chuckled a bit, happy that someone stood up to Teresa and relieved that she found someone who fought back.

Teresa was not satisfied, however. She slammed her tray down and shouted, "What the hell is your problem? I ordered my shit, so let's have it."

"Oh, I thought cheerleaders don't get fat," the girl said sarcastically.

"That doesn't mean that we don't eat," Yonnie retorted, supporting Teresa.

"Oh, really?" the new girl said, fierce disgust in her eyes. She leaned close enough to Teresa before whispering ominously, "Since you're so concerned with fat, let's have a quick rundown of some facts. Turkey bacon and sausage have more protein than regular pork which is a large contributor to obesity. It keeps you healthy so you can think. If you can't think, you can't remember even the simplest cheer; fact, you can't even stay on the squad."

"How'd you know they were on the squad?" Lara questioned, realizing herself that the three girls weren't wearing their cheerleading uniforms.

"Oh, I know 'em," the girl reassured. "I saw 'em practicin' befo' school started. To finish my sentence, you need a C average to stay a cheerleader, and a person who doesn't think doesn't get far anywhere. Take the sausage and sit down," the girl said, shoving the sandwich on the plate. She turned to the other people and shouted, "Next!"

"That's my baby," one of the tall, black men whimpered, wiping away fake tears. He was quite proud of Nicki as was Beatrice and the others. They all collectively smiled at her and laughed at Teresa's burning red face.

Lara was ecstatic to have met someone who finally gave Teresa a snippet of what she truly deserved. She smiled a bit wider than she ever had and decided to order a bit more just to talk with the girl. For starters, she decided to say something now and that was, "Impressive."

Nicki turned to Lara and reverted back to her cheerful self. She asked, "How may I help you, ma'am?"

"Pancake slam with potatoes and eggs please."

"Shredded bacon or ham?" the girl asked, retrieving the meal.

"Shredded ham, no syrup, and your name would be nice," Lara said.

"Nicole," the girl turned her head in suspicion before pushing whatever thoughts she had away and specifying, "Nicole Cabrini."

"Lara Ubersax," Lara introduced, taking one of her earphones out of her ear. "You know, I haven't seen you around here before. You a freshmen?"

"No, I'm a junior," Nicki answered, chuckling a bit. "I transferred here a couple of weeks ago."

"Really? I'm a junior too," Lara said, pointing to her chest. She cleared her throat and relaxed, sounding a bit too excited than she should be. She continued, "Sorry, I got too excited there."

"Now why on Earth are you sorry for being happy?" Nicki asked, passing the tray back to Lara. "Ain't no reason to hide ya smile unless you wear dentures and you're 99 years old still trying to pass Geometry class. 'Sides, the boys like when you tease 'em. Show a little teeth not a little booty."

Lara giggled for the first time in a while. She was happy to have met Nicole and hoped to see her around. Maybe this year she would make a new friend - her first girl friend. Lara went up to the register as the new girl waved her goodbye and said, "Hey, Nicole. It was nice meeting you, keep the change."

"Thank you," Nicole said, smiling brightly. "Hope to see you around."

"Yeah, me too," Lara responded, walking to a table close to serving area.

* * *

><p>The late bell rang for Nicki's first class of the day. Her hair was particularly messy since she had to wear the hair net earlier and didn't have time to brush it back into place. Hopefully, it wouldn't rain later on today; otherwise, she was going to be the wicked witch of the east going home. She looked down at her renewed schedule (since the Wessex High successfully transferred her credits) and rushed to class as quickly as she could. After all, she was already late. She was trying her best to look for her designated classroom, but the numbers for the rooms were so confusing. As she kept searching, she was patting her hair down and tying it up in a small rubberband provided by Miley. Good thing she was used to running to class this late back at Wessex High. Nicki started thinking about her old life again but quickly shook her head to escape old memories. This was her new home now. Room 2139's door was restained nicely. She could smell the fresh paint as though her father had just finished repolishing a peeling nightstand. Taking a deep breath, the teen straightened up, evened her breathing, and entered the classroom.<p>

Her teacher, Michael Pentone, was an attractive man in his early thirties who seemed quite friendly: his hair was a clean brown, his biceps were ripping through his shirt, he wore a nice purple tie, and in all honesty he had a cute butt. Oh, his eyes were a nice shade of blue, too. He had a mix between tan and fair skin, but it was healthy color and a nice glow accompanied the fresh look on his face. He furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity and discontinued going over the syllabus for his class. There were two sections in his classroom: the lab area and the lecture area. All the students were in the lecture area on the right side of the classroom.

Vacious Ubersax and Teresa Puccini just so happened to be in the same class as Nicki and immediately recognized her face, but she hardly remembered theirs and didn't care to try and remember either. All she wanted to do was get this day over with. Vacious was inwardly happy to see Nicki again. She was especially cute today in her clothes: white undershirt with a yellow vest, black skinny jeans, and yellow flip-flops with cute white daisies on them. She'd make a pretty hot cheerleader if they did anything to change the uniforms for NG High. Teresa, on the other hand, was not pleased to see the girl who embarrassed her at lunch earlier with her smart mouth. She was going to make sure her life was a living hell in this school, and she was sure she could do it in a matter of this week alone. Since her boyfriend was a football player, she just needed him to unleash a few ropes on his dog team. Pentone was especially going to play an interesting role in this cutie's life.

"Can I help you, miss?" the teacher asked, making the students turn around.

"Hi, my name is Nicole," Nicki introduced, smiling brightly. "Is this Mr. Pentone's Physics I class?"

"Yes, it is," Pentone answered, turning slightly away from his chalkboard. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah," Nicki replied, shuffling towards him. She handed him her schedule and pointed at some details for him to skim over before saying, "I'm a transfer from Louisiana. I just got my schedule changed a few minutes ago."

"Oh, okay. Well, uh, have a seat in the front by that window. You'll have to look on with someone else to follow along for today. We have an odd number of students at the moment. After class we'll get you situated, alright, darlin'?"

"Okay, thank you," Nicki responded, taking her schedule back.

The minute Nicki sat in her seat and unpacked a small folder and sharpened pencil, gossip was starting to fly. This was all a part of school life anyway, though. It's not like she can't handle it. She started copying things from the board as Pentone was writing them and sparked an interest in the older man. Hardly paid attention to him as much as she did, and it was rare to see students write his sloppy notes. Other kids were starting to notice the looks Pentone was giving Nicki and realized that he was specifically giving her instructions. Amazingly, she followed along with him word-for-word and was the only one who asked to repeat certain things she didn't understand. This caught Pentone's attention that much more.

Suddenly, a man came in the door and gained the class's attention again. He called for Pentone for a moment and began to speak with him outside of the door. Pentone turned to Nicki first to say he would answer her question later and then stepped out. Nicki took out her earphones for a minute to hear about the weather for the day and ignored her surroundings for a moment to listen. The kids around her just started talking.

"Chick's a goner," a football jock commented.

"She'll learn after class to watch out for him," a dance team member remarked.

"Tch! Yeah right. That loser's gonna be his pet by lunchtime," a flag twirler said.

Vacious heard all these comments, being in the center of the room, and asked, "What's wrong with being a teacher's pet?"

"Mr. Pentone has a thing for the cheerful type. If she keeps it up, he'll have her in high heels and a thong with his name on it before the semester's over," the dance team member answered.

"Doesn't he get off on the prp then? All of you are optimists," Vacious reasoned in IM language.

"Dream on, Viva la Vacious," Teresa snapped. "'Sides you're a prp yourself, radio boy. Every prp knows not to show-off in front of the Pentophile. Besides, he'll be the only sap who falls for her sweet smile. She's a b.i.d.: bitch in disguise."

Vacious scoffed, angry enough to punch Teresa's arm but deciding better on it, and argued, "If you assholes know the Pentophile has a thing for cheerleaders, why don't you tell her? And how do you know she's a bitch?"

Teresa chuckled quietly then responded, "First off, she's not even a cheerleader; second, does anyone know anything about her? I didn't think so. I'm not telling her."

Vacious was shocked, just plain shocked that everyone was going to let this new girl become a victim of some pedophile who probably forced young students to learn fluid dynamics for the wrong reasons. He was surrounded by complete jerks! Vacious rolled his eyes at the predictament and called, "Hey, new girl. You can look on with me."

"Real? Thank you. You're so sweet," Nicki complimented, taking off her headphones and smiling warmly. Nicki turned her head and was surprised by her new helper.

She looked into Vacious's beautiful brown eyes and felt her heart beat strongly. Nicki went speechless once Vacious started pulling a desk next to her, so she could look on with him. His hair was long and black, and he had a very handsome face with soft-looking lips. He had a nice build to him for a skinny kind of guy. His fashion was a bit peculiar: lots of skulls and calligraphy adorned his T-shirt and Converse shoes. Other than that, he had gorgeous features and was very attractive.

"She calls the creepy kid sweet? She won't make it before the bell rings," the football jock commented.

Nicki was obviously not paying attention to the gossip behind her. She was busy. You know, watching her helper was far more important, right? He flipped his black hair out of his eyes, sat down in his seat, and pushed his Physics textbook over. He wasn't paying attention anyway, so he was just going to sit there and pretend to be reading. Nicki then took notice to the muscles in the dark teen's arms. She was aching to touch him, but she didn't want to be weird on her first day.

"Thank you fo - " Nicki started, feeling the boy's rough fingertips pressing against her lips. Her weakest spot for a man was when they caressed her lips, and she especially loved a man with rough hands. Call it a fetish or what have you.

Vacious also had a weak spot for a woman. His weakest spot was for a woman to pucker her lips or try to kiss his fingers, and he especially loved a girl with soft, plump lips. He called it a turn-on. However, he was not in the mood for a new romance with another cheerleader, and he wanted this girl to know he hated compliments of a romantic nature unless those compliments were being used to describe his music. He said, "Stop. Just to help you, don't be all sweet for Pentone whenever you see him. He has a thing for the cheery type, and you're in his strike zone today. He probably has an erection the size of a laser pen right now. Watch your back and don't ever call me sweet again. Just look at the book and keep up in the class."

Nicki had a hurt look in her eyes before that look changed to anger, even disgust. Vacious was surprised to see the changes in her eyes; it was remarkable for some odd reason. She took a deep breath, scowled deeply, and then changed her expression to say, "Know what, man? Keep the book. I don't need your help."

Vacious scoffed, rolled his eyes, and said, "Fine. You're on your own with the pervert."

Nicki simply popped her earphones back in her ears and kept her eyes locked on him. Vacious could feel the anger warm his skin from the girl's glare, but the minute he looked back up Nicki seemed disinterested and wasn't looking at him at all. Sure, he noticed that Nicki was into him, but he didn't think what he said could change her into such a calm, angry...bitch. She really was a bitch in disguise like Teresa said. He moved his desk back over in the other aisle, snatched his book and backpack away, and then nearly stomped off. Today was going to be rough. He started off on good grounds with the beautiful girl, but he had to say something stupid like he didn't like sweet compliments. Vacious knew damn well he loved hearing nice things said to him. He just didn't want to hear it right now was all. Now, on other circumstances like not in this classroom, he'd love to hear the beauty whisper sweet things to him. Thanks to Teresa yet again, he lost a potential girlfriend and she was going to be a hot girlfriend. Maybe one his sister would actually like.

Feeling a bit peeved that he couldn't say something less mean to the cute girl, he turned to her and said, "You know, some girls who've gotten involved with Pentone would kill for advice on how to handle him."

Nicki took out her earphones and argued, "Well, that's what's wrong with chu right now, black Buick: I'm not some stupid girl who lets their teachers just do whatever to 'em. I think about stuff."

Vacious rolled his eyes, seeing the patches between them enlarge rapidly, and mumbled, "Whatever. Don't start cryin' about panties up your ass when the Pentophile taps it."

Nicki crossed her legs, leaned in her chair, and said, "I've met worse people, Buick. Now, unless you want to fall behind, you might want to hurry to your seat and take very copious notes because I hear physics is what most, uh, what are you, a rock star? Yeah? I hear rock stars bomb in physics, but they love using dynamics."

Vacious let out a shattered breath before nearly screaming, "You are a bi - !"

"Mr. Ubersax, I suggest you go back to your desk if you're changing your mind about sharing your textbook with the new student," Pentone said. Vacious didn't even hear the man come back inside the room. He said, "Even rock stars, who make it up to this point in their academic career, should know the fundamentals of work and projectile motion. Have a seat." Vacious stomped back to his desk in the center of the room and made sure he was going to get revenge on Nicki for getting him in trouble. "Are you alright, Ms. Cabrini?"

"I'm fine," Nicki answered, smiling brightly and putting away her earphones.

"And rock boy, that's strike one for the day," the football jock commented, chuckling.


	6. PRP: Pep Rally People: Lunch with demons

It was lunchtime in Wessex High. Unique felt like she was at the top of her game. This afternoon was going to be her moment of truth for who gets to be the new cheerleading captain. Of course, she knew it was going to be her. No one else had the leadership skill or quality to take the role of cheer-dominatrix and bring the school a first place, second place, or some kind of place trophy. Nothing was going to get in her way this time. Unique took a deep, confident breath then applied some lipgloss to her lips before smiling cheerfully and opening the heavy, red gym doors. The minute she opened them, however, Daryl was in the midst of leaving. It was apparent that he was still upset about Nicki and her sudden move to Los Angeles, but to hell with that girl. Unique was always more confident than Nicki when it came to her body and her looks. So what if Nicki was gone? Daryl should get over her and fall for a real woman. She was ambitious just the way he likes, she had a beautiful body, and she was going to be the captain. A captain always gets her way and access to multiple perks: passing grades just to stay on the squad, sponsors from all around, and hot team player boyfriends. In fact, her first goal after she's declared captain is getting Daryl Joseph as her main squeeze and possibly her first lover. Nicki probably spoiled Daryl rotten; otherwise, he wouldn't even care if she was gone.

"Hey, Daryl, you been alright?" Unique asked in a soothing, friendly voice.

"Yeah," Daryl sighed, looking into Unique's eyes. He felt something off with this girl; she was normally angry whenever he saw her.

"That don't sound alright to me. What's wrong really?" she asked, caressing his arm then placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, I'm jus' confused," Daryl answered in somewhat honesty.

"C'mon, boy, tell me," Unique probed.

"I don't get how Nicki people jus' up and decide to move clear-across country. Like really?" Daryl questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "The thing about it is she moved right when she came back from wherever the hell ya'll went for camp."

"Georgia," Unique interjected.

"Whatever," Daryl said, rolling his eyes and preparing to stomp off.

Unique placed a hand on his chest and cooed, "Hey, hey. You know, you're not the only one who's confused about this. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew from the beginning that she was movin'. I mean, what kind of parent doesn't tell their child that they're moving to another state that isn't within driving distance?"

"Real talk," Daryl nodded, agreeing with the girl in front of him.

"I mean, if you think about it, what could Nicki gain from tellin' nobody that she was leavin'? You know, Los Angeles is the home of a bunch of famous people and cheerleaders there enter nationals every year no matter which team sucks ass. She like dancin', right?"

"Yeah," Daryl answered, not quite seeing how dancing relates to Nicki moving to Los Angeles.

"Well, while she's in LA doin' her thing, mommy dearest might try to put her up for choreography. Once Nicki gets recognized, she'll be meetin' other guys and won't have to worry about breaking up with you later. It's almost like a plan. Let's say she wasn't gonna do dancin' for a career, she still got cheerleadin' and there's probably hundreds of high schools in California alone that'd take her under their wing. She'll get to nationals, win some trophy, and she'll forget all about this school like it was a dream but with black people in it. See, Nicki can do anything she wants in LA. Nationals, music video fame, rich boyfriends? Think about it. Nicki's probably in the best spot of her life, but what if she already knew all of that? She had to know somethin'; otherwise, there'd be no reason to leave. She could have just as easily told her daddy she wanted to stay here with Eda and Farah. She could've even said she wanted to stay with you, but she didn't even try to fight her daddy back. Don't get her twisted. I think she knew from the start, so I'm not mad that she left. Fact, I wish her the best."

With that, Unique left Daryl in a daze and entered the gym with a devious smile. She saw two of her best and only friends in school waving at her and sauntered over to them in her new excitement. After a few days pass, she'll have Daryl eating out of the palm of her hands. It was all a matter of time, especially with what she just told him about her number one rival. Yeah, Nicki was in the best spot of her life at the worst time.

"Whatchu smilin' all big like that fo'?" one of Unique's friends asked. Her name was Sherice (a.k.a. "Sherry Cola") and she usually had a boyfriend every week.

"Let's see. Now that Nicki's gone and there's no one to run against me for captain, I don't have a reason not to smile anymore. Fact, as far as I'm concerned, this whole school and whoever likes that deceivin' hussy can kiss my ass."

"Alright, ya'll," a tall girl with curly hair greeted, walking in the gym with a paper. "I have some good news, bad news, and truly ugly news for this year. Which one ya'll wan' hear first?"

"What's the ugly news?" Eda asked, taking a sour straw from Farah's pack.

"We don't have enough money to go to regionals, buy new uniforms, or help buy concessions for the games, so we pretty much broker than the coffee cup that fell off the dinner table."

"What's the bad news?" Farah asked, drinking a one-liter Fanta.

The tall girl put her clipboard against her chest, sighed then pouted, and said, "Nicki's mom called last week to tell the school that Nicki wasn't go'n be in this school no mo'. Eda and Farah just told us a couple of days that Nicki and her people moved to Los Angeles."

"What!" the squad questioned, with exception to Unique, Farah, and Eda.

"Yeah, ole' Brini's gone to the West Coast," the girl said. "But the good news is we still have a nominee for Wessex High cheerleading captain. Ya'll been good, faithful athletes since the beginning of your careers, and with ya'll new captain I hope you continue to be just that and more. She'll lead you through the financial struggles as best as she can and help you obtain the recognition you know you deserve. So let's hear it for your new captain... Unique Beaux."

Unique jumped up from her seat and started hopping and screaming at her victory. Eda and Farah looked at each other, knowing they were in for the worse, and just shook their heads and clapped. They couldn't really change the ballots since all the votes went to Unique as runner-up, but if they could at least try to use some of Nicki's ideas that could liberate the work that was going to kick in once regionals' competitions started. They only had a few months. Unique can't possibly think of raising money to replace uniforms, concessions, and transportation to regionals and nationals that fast on her own. Not even their current captain, Jody Beaux, could think of an idea in a few days.

"Now, this year, I'm only going to be co-captain to make sure Unique doesn't abuse her rights as captain. After that, though, she's captain 'til graduation. Coach Higgens go'n go over the Spirit Law and rules for the routine, so pay attention and ask questions if you need to. What's up, Farah?"

The squad turned to the tall girl as she adjusted her sitting position. She asked, "If we have an idea to raise money can we tell the both captains?"

"Yeah," Jody answered, making Unique scoff silently. "What's your idea?"

"This somethin' Nicki thought of before she left, but I thought it'd be okay to use. She said - "

"I don't think it's a good idea to use a squad member's ideas without permission from the squad member. Since Nicki's not here, we don't know if this is your original idea or if you're stealing ideas from her," Unique said, convincing Jody to be on her side as she nodded.

"That's true. Did you ask her if it was okay? I'll use her idea personally, but you never know," Jody said.

"Nicki said it was fine. She said it could earn us about 2,000 dollars if we do it right," Eda remarked. "She said what we should do is put up 90 dollars and buy some supplies for the students from Walgreens and stuff while everything is on sale. Then put like two pens, a folder, some pencils, erasers, and highlighters in a bag and sell it for a dollar. If we put up an extra 50, we can sell art supply bags for like two dollars. During lunch, we can sell like granola bars or something small for like fifty cents to a dollar. If we keep doin' that, we'll have 2 to 300 dollars a month. On the side, we can do other stuff to raise money."

"That's good. I like that," Jody commented.

"Fine. We'll do Nicki's idea for the time being since we got nothin' else to start off with. But from here on out, we do it my way," Unique said, silently threatening Eda with a vicious glare. "All other ideas are to be original. No phone calls to former members, got that?"

"Whatever," Eda mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Good," Unique replied, hearing the bell for lunch to be over. "We practice our routines for the first pep rally first thing tomorrow after school. Five laps if you're late."

* * *

><p>"New girl!" Beatrice called, frowning visibly.<p>

She was practically hunting for the new staff member of her team. Beatrice kicked the back door open, wondering if Nicole was washing the trashcans again, and then looked both ways before noticing that Nicki wasn't in the back. Nicole was actually busy replacing the trashbags for the garbage cans and recycle bins before her lunch duty in fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, since this morning, she had run into Vacious Ubersax twice during the first half of her hectic day and Teresa Puccini only once. Apparently, she shared Physics I, English II Honors, and Spanish II with Vacious, which she wouldn't have minded at all if he were nicer to her in the beginning. She then began to think about the black clothes-wearing boy and started blushing. He really was cute and his hands were practically calloused. Suddenly, the image of her grandmother wearing Rey Mysterio clothes and dive-bombing on Vacious made Nicki realize she was just staring into space and thinking about some guy. She didn't even think about Daryl this much.

"New girl!" Beatrice roared, standing akimbo and frowning.

Nicki snapped her head to Ms. Beatrice's voice so fast a nerve in her neck gathered into a bundle and made a burning, tightening sensation right beneath her ear. She sucked in a breath between her teeth and hissed. Her mouth hung loosely as she moaned in pain, but she couldn't be rude or leave lunch duty on her first day of school anyway. Her finances didn't allow that.

"Yes, Ms. B?" Nicki answered, rubbing her neck for a minute or two then smiling at the older woman. She said, "Are there lunch duty rules I have to follow?"

"Nah, most of 'em are the same as breakfast duty," Miley answered. "The only thing that's different is the greeting."

"The greeting?" Nicki questioned.

"Yeah, that's right. Unlike breakfast duty, lunch duty is where the most reviews kick in and that means you have to be extra sweet to these nutballs," Beatrice responded, scoffing. "Let's go over the greeting. Miley, the smile."

"Every student has to have the same greeting, so what we've all developed is the Little Miss Sunshine smiling face, or the LMS smiley. It goes like this. First, you give a little wave - not a flirty wave - as if you've been friends for a week or two. Then, you say 'Hey, what can I serve you today?' Lastly, you flash a sexy, corporate American grin that suckers them into thinking you're a total bff and that makes them buy a bit more. You see, what most people don't know is if you can grasp the essence of a professional smile, you can sell more stuff for no apparent reason. Here, we call it the stock market."

"Alright," Nicki commented, not fully understanding the connection. Being a former cheerleader doesn't save her aching cheeks. She was almost through with smiling all the time. Nicki sighed, shaking her head, and then turned to say, "Gotcha, Ms. Miley."

"Now, we'll see how well you manage the LMS smiley," Beatrice said, huffing to the register. "Get to the serving area. It's only one lunch period for the whole week 'til Princey Poo's block schedule starts. We gotta make sure the kids get what they get then we're gonna move you to the teacher's lounge. You're gonna be learnin' from me there."

"'Kay, Ms. B," Nicki mumbled, walking behind the serving area. Once she got in her spot, Nicki rolled her eyes at the sound of the bell then erased her attitude and turned into an upbeat teen.

Beatrice fought the laughter about to spew from her lips and sat on her stool. She was reminded of herself whenever she looked at Nicki or watched her complain. Sometimes she remembered her old high school crushes when she watched the boys flirting with Nicki. In a small way, Beatrice wanted to protect Nicki just as her mother wanted to protect her. Boys do stuff, let's face it. Once they start reaching that phase where girls are the "it" thing to worship besides cars and money, the girls have to wise up fast and be trained on how to handle them. One particular boy that Beatrice watched out for was the goth kid, Vacious Ubersax. His sister, Lara, was such a sweet girl, but if it wasn't for her brother and his girlfriend she would be a star cheerleader and probably wearing less black than usual. Vacious could change any woman he wanted into a demon without intending to do it. Beatrice didn't want him anywhere near Nicki for any reason.

Unfortunately, the goths were always the first to lunch, which was the oddest thing for a group of kids who could give hell about the world or people. Even the creepy kids have to eat, though; it's a matter of survival. Beatrice watched one of the goth girls walk over to the serving area and ordering something from Nicki before turning her full attention to the group of black-wearing kids. There were only four people, but there were usually about ten to thirteen of them at the ends of the tables where shadows were prominent.

"Excuse me," the goth girl called, gaining Beatrice's attention. "I'm paying for my lunch."

Beatrice looked down at the tray, calculated the sum of the items, and typed in some numbers on the calculator. She scowled and said, "$10.45. Card or cash?"

"Cash. New girl gets a tip. Fifteen bucks," the girl said, handing Beatrice two bills. "Try not to cheat her. She's a good kid."

"We know," Beatrice said, smiling softly then putting the money in the register.

_Nicole earned herself just about seven bucks in tips_, Beatrice thought. _Keep it up, kid._

* * *

><p>Lara was placing her new textbooks in her new locker this year. It had to change since more people enrolled this year and she had to switch homeroom teachers. She was a bit disappointed after not seeing Nicole since this morning at breakfast. She hadn't eaten breakfast at school in two years, but she at least had something to look forward to every morning. She wanted to tell Vacious about her new friend, but it wasn't official quite yet. She had to be sure that they were going to be friends and then slumber parties and talking about boys would come later. She hadn't actually talked about those things since middle school.<p>

_Geez, Lara, how much more excited are you going to be? It's only been a few hours and you're already thinking about telling her your dream wedding. We're trying to make nice friends not scare the girl!_ Lara thought.

"Everyone out of the hall in two minutes," the disciplinarian bellowed.

Lara closed her locker door then locked the combination lock onto the latch. She picked up her bag and left the hall to the cafeteria. School was crowded as usual but not too crowded since her last class was on the first floor. Algebra II Advanced was on the second floor thank goodness. She paced her way passed a bunch of other students who didn't like or wear black and walked in the cafeteria. The crowd was a lot bigger than outside the doors, and there were boys parading to one spot in the serving area. That was a sign that the new girl was there. Lara inhaled happily then hurried to get a tray. Out of nowhere, some jock tossed a wet piece of bread to his friend, who couldn't catch a ball to save his life, and laughed when it hit Lara in the face. Lara's mouth slowly hung open as she touched the buttery substance on her face then grabbed the bread and flung it back at whoever threw it. The bread hit someone in the eye. Abruptly, jocks started swarming towards her; however, the minute she almost cowered, Nicki and a campus officer were behind her.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing throwing things?" the officer questioned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nicki asked, looking concerned.

"Nicole!" Lara said, turning to Nicki.

"Hey, you're Lara, right?" Nicki questioned, pointing at her fellow junior.

"Ah, you remember, huh?" Lara said, teasingly.

"Course, Lara's not a hard name. Now, if you _had_ a hard name, I'd never get it right or remember it. Did you get hit or someone else?" Nicki asked, turning to the jock.

"Yeah, I think it was garlic bread or something."

"Hmph..." Nicki scoffed, retrieving a warm cloth. "Well, at least it was just bread. Here, wipe your face. You got some seasoning on it."

"Thanks. So, is that long line of boys for you or did you say something was free?"

"Nah," Nicki said, laughing. "I think it's the same ones from this morning. I remember one o' dem had a Bob Marley necklace and he just bought two pizzas. This morning, he bought a pancake slam. Since I'm on this side, what would you like today?"

"Cheeseburger with onion rings. No tomatoes please," Lara said, watching Nicki gather everything. "You know, I haven't seen around lately. You sure you're a junior?"

"I'm quite sure. It's only been half a day; I'll see you around sixth period or somethin'," Nicki joked, placing Lara's order on her tray.

"Don't lie to me. I'm gonna start lookin' for you," Lara cutely threatened.

_Freakin' hell, Lara! You probably scared her!_ Lara thought. _Why are you being so weird?_

"You a mess!" Nicki remarked, laughing. "Ms. Beatrice go'n ring you up, hea'?"

Lara walked away from Nicole with a warm smile on her face and felt genuinely proud of herself and happy. She paid for her lunch and walked toward the familiar corner where the goths were. Even though she had a thing for cheerleading, she also had a love for dark poetry and was kind of a romantic. Even if Nicole didn't love her love of dark romance and imagery, she might like the cheerleading thing. Lara opened her ketchup packets and started pouring its contents onto the cheeseburger. She turned back to Nicole from time to time as she put her earphones on and started thinking about cheering again. It was a pity she sat around people who hated cheerleaders, jocks, and anything potentially athletic and pointlessly noisy because they would take the punk rock cheerleading competition by storm. They loved punk music, would be instantly famous and at the top of the popular person pyramid, and could get other jobs besides supporting benefit campaigns. However, most of the goths she sat around were only interested in supporting one person within their own group: her brother, Vacious. While he was busy earning the attention of radio stations and night clubs, she slowly dwelled in his shadow and she hated it little by little. Talking to this new girl, Nicole, was beginning to be the relief she needed.

Speaking of Vacious, Lara turned to see him walking through the cafeteria's front doors with his best friend, Allen. Lara realized sometime last year that Allen had a crush on her, but he didn't tell her or Vacious about it. He just so happened to let it slip when Lara ordered pizza for the band while they practiced. Since Vacious usually worked over the summer all day and very little during school, he hardly ever had to ask Lara to pay for food but that day he was broke until next payday. Since that time, Lara has paid very special attention to avoid Allen if he came by. Allen was a nice guy, but he wasn't Lara's type. Today, Lara planned to avoid Vacious and Allen and just stay close to Nicole; instead, though, she watched her brother change expressions. He went from being a playful, talkative guy to a demonic playboy. Concerned, Lara quickly got up with her tray in her hands and walked over to Vacious. As she got closer, she heard the oddest conversation take place.

"Hello, what can I get for you today?"

"Well, if it isn't my fav newbie," Vacious responded in a seductive growl. "Didn't think you'd be working the buffet. That inner bitch in you come out yet?"

"Nope, I've been a very good girl," Nicki said, deception of joy in her eyes.

"Really? Because earlier you were checkin' me out and flirting with your customers is considered inappropriate. Oh! Is that a big word for you to remember, my little goody-goody?" Vacious teased, deliberately lowering his voice to a sensual whisper. Vacious was once again taken aback by the change in expression the new girl emitted. As he watched Nicki become a seductive vixen, he practically melted in her confident smirk and mischievous eyes. At that moment, he knew they would never mend the pieces in their broken relationship. It was too shattered to fix and quite regrettable.

She leaned over the counter, puckering her lips the way she knew (or had to know) Vacious liked, and licked her teeth before chuckling lightly. She said in probably the sexiest, raspiest voice Vacious ever heard, "Not as big as your failure for trying to piss me off because it is epic. Anything else you want to try to say to me?"

"Suck...my...cock," Vacious hissed, now pissed at the girl. Inwardly, the pervert in him wanted to see her lips work a penis, but he wasn't going to even admit that. He just wanted to shut the new girl up and make her life a living hell. If she begged for mercy, maybe the sucking of his genitalia would be the edge he needed to forgive her, but until then...yep, those lips were going to be put to really good use in the future.

"When you learn to speak to a woman nicely and maybe stop trying to impress the people around you and just be yourself, you can get the whole nine yards: a sucked dick, a kissed ass, and possibly the best sex of your short life. Since you don't know how to talk to girls or accept compliments from girls, you're gonna have to live with an un-sucked cock, an un-kissed ass, and an STD because I'm cursin' you for life," Nicki threatened, displaying a devillish grin. "Chicken sandwich meal for two plus two oatmeal raisin cookies coming right up."


	7. PRP: Pep Rally People: Don't Play

I'm sorry. This chapter is actually really short, but I thought I should at least update it while I beta someone else's story.

* * *

><p>Farah Lockheed was pouting all day, even during lunchtime. She missed Nicole. The bell rang for school to be over, so she walked with Eda to the bus in the back of the school's yard. Here, they used to practice routines or dance just to be crazy and have fun. Sometimes, Nicki would randomly come up with cheers or walk over to freshmen or people who were by themselves and have them join in on the fun. She was just an all-around happy soul who could make people smile. She missed being able to see Nicki's face when she and Eda would eat Twinkies and marshmallow-peanut butter sandwiches. She would start praying for them not to get diabetes or junk food comas. Once, she even offered them her lunch and would starve herself before she dared touch their lunch. As she boarded the bus with Eda, she sat by the window and turned on her iPOD to listen to different songs while they waited to be dropped off home. They were always the last ones to leave.<p>

Eda missed Nicki just as much as Farah did, but they both had hope in meeting her again if they passed regionals this year. Tonight would be their first webcam conversation since Nicki left. They wrote notes to each other in class, wondering about what to say to Nicki since she left. Eda had just finished writing all of Nicki's ideas for fundraising and the game schedule for this year was being written up in the meantime. She was full of hope, but in the end she missed her friend. Eda wasn't pouting but she was watching out for Unique. She's been following Daryl all day and she already knew why. Daryl was a funny dude anyway, though. He mostly dated Nicki to prove he could get her virginity before anyone else. Ha! Devil is a lie! If Unique wanted to be stupid and date Daryl, she could have all the fun she wanted. Nicki probably found herself a better man on the plane ride to Los Angeles. There were fine men all over the place in that city. She would be just fine without Daryl. Plus, a lot of talent was lurking around in LA. Nicki was always a pretty girl, so she might find a musician or actor who was good-looking, too.

"Farah, you think we should tell Nicki about Daryl and Unique?" Eda asked, trying to spark up a little conversation. Just because Nicki was gone doesn't mean they weren't still friends. They could talk to each other.

"No, Nicki not gon care 'bout dem," Farah answered, waving her hand at the notion. "We just gon tell her about Unique bein' captain and what she said 'bout fundraisin'. I wonder what school she went to. She could probably be a cheerleader in her new school."

"Unless she comin' to nationals, she would want to be a cheerleader. How else we gon be able to see her?"

"We could stay over by her house for a little while."

"Oh..." Eda droned, thinking of an idea. You know, to say Farah was a bit of ditz, she could be a genius sometimes. "Girl, if we go to nationals we won't have to stay at no hotel! Nicki live in LA. We can just stay with her for nationals!"

"Girl, you the truth!" Farah remarked, stomping her feet with Eda as they wrote down a couple of things to say and do about nationals.

Things were definitely starting to look up. Farah then turned the page for ideas and noticed Eda wrote uniforms at the top. Below the title, Nicki drew a quick sketch of the Suns new uniform. Their old uniforms had a long red skirt that covered half the knees, black stockings, orange tennis shoes, and a yellow long-sleeved shirt under a red, orange, and black top. Nicki's sketch completely changed the look of the squad. The skirt was black and reached as low as mid-thigh and the shoes were also black. The undershirt was instead red and the top was red, orange, yellow, and black. The Suns' logo was yellow and had orange outlines, but the top itself was red and black. She forgot that they had to figure out what to do about the other two sketches for uniforms.

"We gotta talk about the uniforms, too," Farah said, taking out a magazine with different uniform colors and styles. "The principal said we can't have high skirts or stomach-showing tops."

"That's cuz she scared o' thugs," Eda said, getting Farah to laugh.

* * *

><p>Nicki was ready to leave Nivaldo Gillian High School forever. She didn't want to see another trash can, cheerleader, goth, or jock until tomorrow. She was just done with school. Ever since lunchtime, she had been angered to the point of wanting to punch someone. She did, however, notice that she had two classes with Lara and managed to speak to her after class before she was almost knocked down by one of the football players. After that, the black-wearing guy who had been mean to her since early this morning in Physics I with Pentone was persistently picking on her about being bitchy or slutty or a mixture of both. She still didn't even know his name. Lara never actually heard what he said, but Nicki thought it might have been a good thing because she was close to punching him in the balls. Since then, she has just been ready to go home.<p>

As she walked down the hall away from seventh period, Nicki noticed the school's mascot walking towards her. Nivaldo Gill's mascot was a medieval knight named Henry the Awesome, Duke of Cheer. His plastic and fiber armor was silver, and he wore a white and purple jersey with a cape that had the coat of arms of the school on it. His shoes clanked on the floor since that was made out of some kind of hardened plastic painted metallic silver. The face of the knight had him sneering with a competitive growl. Of course, he was cheering other people up and making them laugh. Some of the girls asked if the mascot had a girlfriend to which the mascot mimed "Sort of." Nicki knew that gesture. It meant he had his sights on someone, but she wasn't really responding to him much. To everyone else, it was read as a 'maybe.' One of the boys that was next to the mascot had a radio on his shoulders and was playing a couple of rap songs that the mascot willingly danced to. It was actually kind of cute when the mascot tried to pop. He did do the stanky leg really well, but the popping thing was an absolute no.

Nicki was about to pass up her locker as she watched the mascot. She quickly remembered she had to retrieve a couple of books to read over the chapter for tomorrow. While she was getting her books, her favorite black-wearing friend came by to pay her a visit. Vacious smacked the back of her head, making her snap her head around, and then hopped as he walked and put up one of those gangster hand signs. His friend, Allen, was next to him, laughing a little at the gesture. Allen didn't realize the two were enemies. In fact, he thought Nicki and Vacious were flirting with each other.

"Later, cheer-pimp," Vacious called out, grabbing his crotch and sticking his tongue out like the rock star he aspired to be. Then again, it could have been a secret 'Suck this dick' gesture.

Nicki took a deep breath before going back to getting the books out of her new locker. She had a lot of decorating to do to it. She said to herself, "Positive thoughts, positive thoughts, positive thoughts."

As she packed her book bag, Nicki noticed a tap on her shoulder. She turned around then saw the mascot getting down on one knee. Thinking it was proposing to her, she started hyperventilating. The mascot looked down at his position then realized this was the common proposal stance made by society. He shot up quickly then instead faked like he was kissing Nicki's hand, causing her to calm down and smile at him.

"Thank you, Henry," Nicki said, chuckling a bit.

"Ahem, the Awesome," the radio teen corrected.

"Be awesome if you could smack a few people in the face with that radio for me," Nicki scoffed, packing the rest of her books in her bag

She bent over for a second to look for her schedule and daily planner, not realizing she was probably mooning a couple of people behind her. No one was behind her, though. Henry and the radio teen, however, sneakily went behind her to see the full roundness of her ass. The radio teen was the first to comment as he leaned his head over along with Henry.

"Oh, that's nice," he complimented, seeing Henry forming arcs with his hand gestures, implying a perfected roundness to the shape of Nicki's ass.

"Careful, man, you don't want that. It's diseased with the bitch syndrome," Vacious warned, making Nicki stand up and turn around.

"Vacious, let's go! Allen's gonna leave soon!" Lara called.

Vacious winked at Nicki, putting on his best 'I'm your worst nightmare' face, and then said, "See ya tomorrow, cheer pimp. Rep it up."

Nicki rolled her eyes then picked up her bag, slammed her locker shut, and then walked in the opposite direction of the middle stairway in the hall. She instead stomped off to the back stairway and went down the stairs. Henry took off his mask after everyone was gone and revealed a shy, charming teenage boy. He had stringy, brown hair after sweating in the suit for an hour, chocolate brown eyes, and fair skin covered in a few freckles and a little acne give or take. He also had braces that did little to hide his handsome, high cheekbone features. He looked in Nicki's direction and started wondering about her and Vacious' relationship for a minute.

"Wonder what she did to get Vacious to be a dick," the teen said.

"I dunno. But she sure was cute," the radio teen replied.

"So true. I mean her butt was a perfect sphere. How are you born with a symmetric ass?" the mascot questioned, walking off to the restroom.

* * *

><p>"Alright and 5, 6,..., 5, 6, 7, 8!"<p>

Teresa Puccini was busy perfecting the squad's routines. Of course, Clover, one of the sloppiest cheerleaders in history, couldn't get the damn routine crammed in her ass far enough for her to know it like the lines on her hands. She was beginning to feel frustrated with her. It was a shame for the academic coach to determine who deserves to be on the cheerleading squad or not because Clover would be gone by now. The first pep rally for the year was in a couple of weeks; in fact, it was this Friday, which was in two days! Oh, but little miss floppy feet over here, couldn't get that through her thick skull! God, she couldn't wait to start legally drinking!

"Stop!" Teresa demanded, turning off the music. "Clover, get over here."

Clover was a bright, charming girl with a glowing face and button nose. She had blonde hair that covered her neck and shoulder blades, nice slim figure, and was particularly flexible. She could do the stunts spot on, but the routines themselves were her weakest points and that isn't good for the squad or her. Teresa yanked Clover off to the side then showed her the routine step by step. They did it together about three times, and then Teresa watched her do it on her own.

"You're doing it again," Teresa spat out, earning a confused look from Clover. "You keep tripping yourself when you pivot and then you try to cover it up with an extra step. Give yourself some space to turn. You've got enough elbow room to decorate a five-star kitchen. What is wrong with you?"

"Well, sorry, geez," Clover responded, looking to the side.

She noticed Nicki walking down the sidewalk while talking on her cellphone at the same time. She looked like she was in a hurry. Teresa looked in the direction Clover was looking in then saw her enemy. She scoffed then folded her arms as the new girl walked passed them, not even paying attention to the cheerleaders practice. She looked toward the jocks, pointing at her and making weird faces at her to try to gain her attention, and called out to her boyfriend.

"Alex! Shake her up a little. I wanna lay down some laws with her."

Her boyfriend took one of his teammates footballs then got in position to throw it. A segment of the fencing was sectioned off to make an entrance/exit to the bleachers, so Alex decided to throw the football through there in hopes of hitting the new girl in the head or something. It would be too awesome if he did it. He threw the ball at a perfect angle, and it landed a hit on her hip. She snapped her head around, looking down at the ball spinning in front of her, and then reached for it. Alex was running towards her with a goofy grin on his face, waving a hand to say that the ball was his. He only slowed down when he got close enough to Nicki to see her face turn into a seductive grin. Feeling flirty, Alex swaggered toward Nicki instead and produced a seductive grin of his own but it hardly exuded the amount of sex appeal Nicki emanated. She put on an exotic sexiness to her smile. Teresa watched as Nicki walked up to Alex, gaining his full attention with her flirty walk as she twirled her hair in fingers, and started to grow angry as Clover giggled at her face. Within seconds, Nicki dropped the flirt act and shoved the ball in Alex's face hard enough to nearly break his nose then slapped him across the cheek. She stomped off then went back to talking to her dad on the phone.

"Hello? Hey, daddy, whatchu wanted? Oh, no, just some white boy thinkin' he was gettin' my number," she explained, hearing her father fuss on the phone. "Before or after I shoved a football up his nose? Tch! I ain't playin' wit' dese people."


	8. Impending Doom

"Dude, what time do you go to work?"

Oscar Reynolds. Stupid name, right? Well, tell that to the Reynolds' family. The entire clan has stupid first names, but Oscar was one of the more normal. He was sixteen, standing at 6'2" with a skinny frame and 7,000 biological allergies. He wore broken-rimmed glasses, his hair was never combed, and his skin was a pale white. He hated going to Nivaldo Gillian High, but if he stayed here until graduation with a 4.1 average his chances at Princeton University as a chemistry major would hit the roof. He just had to find something to look forward to in this school, but there was hardly anything to look up to. He didn't have many friends, and the few friends he did have barely spoke to him in public. Being called a freak for so long started to define his existence. Oscar was really a nice guy and was a big romantic. He didn't have much luck with girls, though. At least, not like how he had it when he was a freshmen.

When he first came to NG High, he was a sweetheart and a lot of girls would ask for his number. Once the first homecoming dance came around and he was asked to be a horny girl's date, his life changed forever and he became a freak, a nerd, a womanizing geek. He hated it. He hated going to school. He hated being everyone's punching bag, but he didn't know how to fight back. He just took it like a champ and kept living in his own filth. He wasn't the only one who suffered, though. He had his legion of doom to sympathize with: Ignacious Peyton, Heoung Wulong (aka "Ginyu") and Nina Wulong.

"No work this year," Oscar said, walking next to his friend, Ignacious, to the bus stop. "Too much to do. I have to study, compete in chemistry events, make sure the pep rally assholes get good enough grades to stay on the teams. You know, the football team alone has scores so low, they need a traffic cop to direct them to your ass."

"Pfft, maybe they should just live there."

Oscar laughed at Ignacious' comment then said, "Yeah, next to the hot douche. Front row seat to your toilet bowl."

"Dude, that'd be so weird having apartments come out of your ass!" Ignacious remarked, chuckling. "It'd be like space travel."

Ignacious is a hardcore gamer who loves hot women, action movies, and getting everyone hyped up about something. On his own, he could make a party out of nothing but a mustard bottle and a rubber band. Some students liked him for his social skills and ability to cheer people up or on, but he was still a nerd and considered annoying after too much hype. The fact that he helped the mascot, who was Oscar himself, during pep rally season earned him some credibility but not enough to be considered cool. Ignacious's father was an architect while his mother was a local and celebrity florist. From them, Ignacious learned how to make some really cool party themes. He just never really got much of an opportunity to use his skills other than planning out birthday parties and Christmas themes.

"Hey, guys," a young Asian teen greeted, cuddling Oscar.

"Hey, Nina," Oscar greets, giving her a hug.

"Ginyu!" Ignacious called, earning a high-five.

Heoung, or Ginyu, is a heavy manga reader and anime fan. He wasn't much of a talker, but when he did speak he usually had something important to say. He loves music, wearing costumes, and designs his own cosplay costumes for conventions. On his own, he could turn a room into a club with a mixtape and a stereo system. He was the DJ in disguise for Oscar when he goes out as a mascot and does his thing for pep rallies. The other DJ, and his arch rival, Adrian Hunter, was most notably the school's DJ. Adrian stole a lot of Ginyu's mixtapes during class and only returned them a week after he used them up. Sometimes the CDs would be damaged. When Ginyu got enough money to buy a second iPod instead of carrying three cases of CDs, it made it harder for Adrian to steal his music. However, that didn't stop him from taking his iPod or leftover CDs that weren't on the iPod yet. Because of Adrian's selfishness, Ginyu is notably recognized as the costume dude who likes Adrian when he actually hates him. Ginyu's dad works in movie productions as the music director, and his mom is a capital accountant with an electric company.

Nina is Ginyu's sister. She doesn't really hang out with her brother or his friends that much, but she does visit to practice trying out for the cheerleading squad. None of the boys have the heart to tell her she'll just be turned down until graduation next year. Nina loves cheerleading and is really good at doing the stunts, but, when it comes to the cheers or catchphrases, she sucks and the squad turns her away every time. Oscar tried helping since he has to deal with them every pep rally, but she was too offbeat. She cleaned up as cheerleader with her routines but that was it. Ginyu provided the right tune for her to move, Ignacious was good at hyping her up, but there was no music or hype at an actual rally or game. She had to find the hype in herself, which was hard when she looked down on herself so much.

Yeah, Oscar, Ginyu, Ignacious, and Nina were a community on their own. There was always something kicking their ass in life, but they got through it together. Sometimes, they wished their lives would change for the better sooner, but good things came to those who waited. They knew each other's pains of being an outsider and not fighting back their enemies.

"Ready for the new year, guys?" Nina asked, sparking some conversation as they walked side by side to the bus stop.

"You gonna tryout for cheerleading again?" Ignacious asked, feeling an aggravated groan about to make itself known.

"I think I might give up this year..."

"What?" Ginyu exclaimed. "You've never given up on anything no matter how many times things got bad. What would father say if you did? He's proud of you when you keep striving for what you love. He said it himself!"

"Happy holidays to you, too," Ignacious said. "You haven't spoken since last summer."

"Didn't have a reason 'til just now," Ginyu said, shrugging.

"I dunno, Heoung. I can never get the stupid cheers down no matter who's the teacher. I make the grades, I do the stunts, but... I dunno... maybe I just don't have enough swagger or rhythm."

"Swagger is a sense of style. Rhythm is a flow of movement, sound, or words. You've got it in you. You're either scared to get it out or need someone who can get it out for you. Keep trying," Ginyu advised, rubbing Nina's shoulder.

"There's not nearly enough big brothers out there like you," Nina said, skipping to the bus stop ahead of the boys.

Once they got to the bus stop, they saw another teenage girl waiting for the bus. She was texting or looking up something on her cellphone before putting it away and watching cars zip by in the street. The outcast group didn't know how what to make of the girl, but with Nina being the most outspoken and preppy she cleared the air for them.

"Hey," she greeted, getting the girl to turn around.

"Hi," the girl responded.

"I'm Nina. What's your name?"

"Nicole. Nice to meet you, Nina. I like your skirt."

Nina looked down, giggled a bit, and then said, "Thanks, I got it from the athlete store downtown. They sell cheerleader stuff there."

"Really? I'm a cheerleader," Nicole said, gaining everyone's attention then. "Well, I used to be at my old school."

"Really? That's awesome! I used to cheer in middle school, but, after that, the high school varsity cheerleaders kept turning me down every time they have tryouts. It's a big conspiracy theory there. What school do you go to now?"

"Nivaldo Gillian."

"Really?" Nina questioned, looking at the boys who were looking at Nicole. "We go to the same school!"

* * *

><p>Lara was ecstatic to be home, but her brother, Vacious, knew how to ruin a mood. He decided to invite Allen over, and he might not know it but his best friend just so happens to have the hots for his little sister. She was so stoked they both were graduating this year. She didn't mind Allen as a friend, but he was...a jerk. He was rude, had a bad attitude, and he snuck weed around in school. She did not want that kind of guy in her life. Running up the stairs to her room, she opened the front door and tossed her backpack on the floor. Her bed looked so inviting. She plopped onto the mattress and sighed, letting her back feel the cool, soft cushion relax her spine. Vacious was downstairs searching for drinks in the refrigerator while Allen turned on the TV. VH1 was making another announcement about the cheerleading competition, making Allen switch to MTV to watch Guy Code instead.<p>

"Why'd you change it?" Vacious asked, opening a strawberry Fanta soda can. He leaned over the countertop while drinking then wiped his bottom lip free of sweet liquid residue. "You don't wanna accomplish your dream of being a man-leader?"

"Dude, I swear to Christ, I will kill you in your sleep if you even _whisper_ that word again," Allen threatened, smirking. He nodded, catching a Fanta that Vacious threw at him. "Why don't you be a man-leader? Even with your good arm, you refuse to join the football team or even the baseball team. You may as well be a spotter to look up a few skirts. Least that way you can get with that black chick."

"Pfft, whatever," Vacious scoffed.

"Okay, you are not about to sit here and lie to me. Dude, I watched you go back to her locker, which I have no idea how you found. I mean, that's some sketchy, stalker shit. And after playing around with her, you went back to see her bend her ass over?" Allen asked, making Vacious glare at him. "You can't stand there and say you're not into it. I have proof committed to memory."

"Goths and cheerleaders don't mix," Vacious reasoned, rolling his eyes. "The girl's a bitch. She hates me; I hate her."

"Oh, really? 'Cause Teresa is a cheerleader and a bitch but you still went out with her," Allen said, turning back to the TV and opening his soda to drink it. "Jenna sent me a text, too. She said her mom bought extra taco stuff. Want any?"

"Well, beats McDonalds. Hey, skank, Jenna's comin' over with taco stuff! Wanna make some?" Vacious called from downstairs.

Lara officially wanted an escape once she heard that name. Jenna was the epitome of a soulless person. Her voice had no life or enthusiasm in it. Yeah, goths are usually known for not having much enthusiasm with the world and everyone in it, but that didn't mean they sucked the life out of everything around them! It just meant they hated life or its situations. Lara groaned then forced a Jack Skellington plush pillow onto her face, implying she wanted to just smother and die, before she thought of a plan to get away from her brother's annoying friends.

"No, I'm gonna go run some errands and get groceries. Thanks, though," Lara replied.

"Don't make partying an errand, skank," Vacious called, teasing her with a smile.

Lara chuckled, moving the pillow, and said to herself, "Dumbass."

* * *

><p>Teresa Puccini was getting a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen, but she pushed those thoughts aside and looked at her cheerleading squad. This Friday was the first pep rally. For the squad to have maximum support, she needed a routine that would blow everyone away. Why? The teams sucked, so the squad had to cover for their screw-ups. Plus, with enough popularity, they could earn more fundraising money to get to nationals and win the title of defending champions again. Since she recorded a lot of the cheer camp squads' material, she just meshed in different moves to create an original routine. One of the stunts a Georgia team did extremely well was that wolf's wall. It was perfect and covered for the screw-ups the man-leaders did trying to help out with the helicopters.<p>

"Alright, let's try a wolf's wall to end the routine," Teresa commanded, earning some protests from the squad.

"Why are we doing the hardest pyramid to be invented? We don't have that kind of skill," a girl voiced. Her name was Hannah Menendez, one of the best gymnasts on the squad. She hated Teresa's attitude and was pleasantly surprised when that girl from earlier shoved a football up Teresa's boyfriend's nose.

"That's why we're gonna train for it," Teresa snapped.

Hannah scoffed then rolled her eyes as she returned to her position. Teresa called out the eight-counts and watched the routine from the audience's point of view. It was clean, cut, and perfect to them, but it was still rough around the edges for her. She picked out where the wolf's wall was going to be and began to make decisions in her head. She nodded to one conclusion then spoke.

"Chloe, you're the left corner of the wall," she commanded, watching the blonde airhead run to her position. "Hannah, you're center. Yonnie, you're right corner. Spotters, in position."

"What's goin' through that head of yours, captain?" Michelle asked.

"I'm gonna shove that first place trophy up Marcy's ass and whoever else thinks they can beat me out of nationals," Teresa threatened, smiling evilly. She turned to the squad then said, "For now, we'll take it easy until the first pep rally. We'll do a few 3HE routines then step it up each time. To make sure we stay on top, we're gonna meet up with a few choreographers to add some spice to our moves."

"Well, let's make sure we still have time to get to class. God knows how much that dumbass academic coach can be a bitch," Michelle remarked.

Teresa chuckled then called out the eight-count. They practiced about three times, trying to get the girls in the right position. When they finally got it right, Teresa cheered for them. That's when hell broke loose upon her psyche. The spotters bounced a bit to prepare for Chloe to come down, but they put too much force into the bounce and she went flying through the air. All anyone heard was a scream, gasps, and then a loud THUMP! Chloe screamed in agony, holding her arm and writhing in the grass.

"Ow! Ow!" Chloe moaned, tears about to fall from her face.

"Whoa, someone call an ambulance!" one of the male spotters ordered.

"Teresa, her arm broke!" Hannah screamed.


End file.
